Spartans, with a win in the first round, would face Iowa or Ohio State, who combined for three of MSU’s losses.
In addition to their Big Ten championship, members of the No. 11 MSU women’s basketball team picked up individual awards from the conference Monday.
With a chance at an upset win over No. 8 Purdue, senior guard Kalin Lucas said he and the MSU men’s basketball team wanted to be the aggressor Sunday and take it to the visiting Boilermakers. Instead, Purdue took it to the Spartans (16-12 overall, 8-8 Big Ten) for the entire 40 minutes as the Boilermakers (24-5, 13-3) ran over MSU, 67-47, at Breslin Center. “Today, we definitely wanted to come and play aggressive, and we wanted to bring the punch to them,” Lucas said.
For the entire month of February, the MSU men’s basketball team has been The Kalin Lucas Show. But just like many shows that don’t adjust the plot, it’s not enough to succeed anymore. The senior guard scored 23 points in Sunday’s 67-47 loss to Purdue at Breslin Center, but for the third-consecutive game, Lucas was the only Spartan to score in double figures. Junior forward Draymond Green scored seven points on 3-for-12 shooting, tied for his highest output in the last three games. In fact, until a layup by Green with 4:04 to play, senior guard Mike Kebler was MSU’s second-leading scorer behind Lucas with six points. If the Spartans (16-12 overall, 8-8 Big Ten) are to finish the season strong and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament, more Spartans are going to need to improve their offense – and it can’t be Kebler leading the charge. “When I do penetrate to the hole and guys don’t hit shots, you’ve just got to keep their spirits up and just tell them to make the next one and to go to the hole, get fouled and get a rhythm that way,” Lucas said of his teammates. The guy who needs to help Lucas as much as anyone is his best friend, senior guard Durrell Summers, who continues to be nowhere to be seen.
Junior guard Porsche Poole proved why she once was a starter this season for the 10th best women’s basketball team in the country against Minnesota on Sunday. She only scored 10 points, but the command she had on the court was vital in carrying the No.
Spartans get two days off before hosting Purdue at 1 p.m. Sunday at Breslin Center.
The No. 10 MSU women’s basketball class of 2011 defines everything it means to be a Spartan. Behind seniors Brittney Thomas, Cetera Washington and Kalisha Keane the Spartans became the first MSU women’s basketball team to claim an outright conference title, despite a 54-53 loss to Ohio State on Thursday night. The three seniors are Spartans to the fullest extent, and although they will graduate with their last game at Breslin Center being a loss, they can find peace in knowing they represent everything you look for in a basketball player. They have toughness, heart, passion, energy, character and leadership.
Heading into Thursday night, the No. 10 MSU women’s basketball team had one obstacle left between itself and the program’s first-ever outright Big Ten championship. Unfortunately for the Spartans (24-4 overall, 12-3 Big Ten), that obstacle was six-time defending champion Ohio State.
The MSU men’s basketball team will look for revenge and a chance to all but lock up an NCAA Tournament berth when it welcomes No.
With a chance to clinch its first ever outright Big Ten championship Thursday night the No. 8 MSU women’s basketball team lost to Ohio State, 54-53.
No matter the outcome of Sunday’s MSU men’s basketball game vs. Purdue, both schools will be winners.
As if a battle with Ohio State to win the Big Ten title outright wasn’t enough pressure for the No.
After a wretched first half, freshman guard Keith Appling knocked down two free throws to give the MSU men’s basketball team a 50-48 lead against Minnesota in its own building. Seventeen seconds later, senior guard Mike Kebler knocked down two more free throws to all but seal a 53-48 win for the Spartans (16-11 overall, 8-7 Big Ten) and improve their chances of making a 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament. “We had a lot of guys that kind of screwed up and then came back,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said told the Spartan Sports Network.
After a big win Saturday against Illinois, the MSU men’s basketball team won its second consecutive game for the first time in a month by beating Minnesota, 53-48, Tuesday in Minneapolis.
For MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant, being crowned Big Ten champions was something she and the No. 10 Spartans aspired to do when the season began.
Spartans set for rematch against Minnesota.
After five consecutive years of watching Ohio State reign atop the Big Ten conference and raise banner after banner, the No. 11 MSU women’s basketball team — with a 69-56 victory at Illinois — have dethroned the former champions and will carry the trophy a few hours north to East Lansing.
After freshman center — a.k.a former Spartan Alyssa DeHaan’s replacement — Madison Williams went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, would anyone have believed me if I said MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant would be able to reshape her offense and turn the No.
Saturday night’s 61-57 win over Illinois wasn’t enough to take the MSU men’s basketball team off the bubble or make the Spartans a lock for the NCAA Tournament.