The phrase, “You play like a girl,” has been thrown around in gymnasiums and playgrounds for decades — typically as an insult from one male to another.
In her four years as a Spartan, senior guard Porsché Poole has never lost to Michigan, and with Sunday’s matchup likely serving as her last experience in the rivalry, she doesn’t want to start now.
After more than 39 minutes of ugly basketball and with its best player on the bench, the No. 9 MSU men’s basketball team still had a chance to beat Illinois on Tuesday in Champaign, Ill.
She stood with her teammates at the center court of Breslin Center after a game 56 other times, but this time, Porsché Poole couldn’t contain her emotions. As her eyes turned red and tears streamed down her face, the MSU women’s basketball team (13-9 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) suffered its fourth straight loss on Thursday to Illinois (7-15, 1-8).
After an ugly first half of play in Champaign, Ill., the No. 9 MSU men’s basketball team trails Illinois 22-20.
The No. 9 men’s basketball team enters tonight’s game at Illinois a half game out of first place in the Big Ten.
With the MSU women’s basketball team (13-9 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) sliding from first to sixth in the conference after losing four straight games, head coach Suzy Merchant said her team needed a game to turn the tides.
For the second game in a row, the No. 9 MSU men’s basketball team likely will be without the services Travis Trice. The freshman guard sustained a groin injury in a loss to Michigan on Jan. 17.
Last year, Derrick Nix and Garrick Sherman made for a unique friendship. This season, with Sherman now at Notre Dame, Nix — a junior center for the No. 10 men’s basketball team — has paired with sophomore center Adreian Payne to make up a new age Bash Brother combination. Nix and Payne have utilized their vastly different styles of play to help the Spartans (17-4 overall, 6-2 Big Ten) stay atop the conference standings.
Following the MSU women’s basketball team’s fourth straight loss on Thursday, MSU head coach Suzy Merchant sat at the podium, wondering aloud where her team that opened the conference season with four straight wins had gone. On Sunday, Merchant said she might have found her squad.
After getting blown out by Purdue in the last game and riding a three-game losing streak, the MSU women’s basketball team expected a return home to face one of two Big Ten teams without a conference win to help solve the offensive problems.
Four hundred college basketball wins. That’s 400 more wins than I’ll likely ever accumulate in my lifetime, but still more than 500 less than Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. And that’s enough to make Tom Izzo feel like 400 isn’t very many.
Despite having as impressive a resumé as there is in college athletics, Tom Izzo never has been one to grandstand his personal accomplishments.
The No. 10 MSU basketball beat Minnesota 68-52 on Wednesday at Breslin Center, giving head coach Tom Izzo his 400th career win.
Riding a three-game losing streak, including two straight games on the road, the MSU women’s basketball team will return home, trying to snap its recent losing skid.
When Trevor Mbakwe went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in November 2011, many thought Minnesota was in for a rough season. Instead, the Minnesota men’s basketball team (15-5 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) comes into Breslin Center for a game against the No. 11 Spartans (16-4, 5-2) as one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten. Tipoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. tonight.
Heading into West Lafayette, Ind. to face the Big Ten’s top defensive team, the Spartans knew points would be tough to come by, but it quickly proved to be more of a challenge than MSU could handle. The MSU women’s basketball team (12-8 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) struggled to score for most of the night, losing to Purdue (17-3, 7-0) 67-49.
When Tom Izzo opened his weekly press conference yesterday, it sounded as if he wished he woke up coaching in a different conference.
A glimpse of the Spartan basketball future was seen late in MSU’s 83-58 blowout win against Purdue. With 2:48 left in the game, Travis Trice softly lobbed a pass to Branden Dawson for a cheer-inducing, authoritative slam. The connection between the freshmen guards ended a 10-point, five-minute stretch from Dawson.
Travis Trice has never been the biggest player on the floor.