Friday, March 29, 2024

Sports | Basketball

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Reporter gets unique chance on hardwood

Growing up as a sports fan, I had a pretty fair idea that I wanted to become a sportswriter after I figured out that I didn’t possess a Reggie Miller-esqe jump shot. So, I opted to dream about joining the other side of the sports world, and thought I had a good gist of what it all involved.

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Morgan scores 11 for men's U-19 squad

Raymar Morgan scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting as the U.S. Basketball Under-19 World Championship Team defeated Mali, 118-56, in the opening game of the tournament Thursday in Novi Sad, Serbia. Morgan, who has earned a spot in the starting lineup, scored seven of his 11 points in the first half as Team USA opened the game with a 21-0 run.

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Morgan performs well in Global Games

MSU sophomore forward Raymar Morgan has helped the USA Basketball Under-19 World Championship Team jump out to a perfect 3-0 record in the Global Games. Morgan poured in 13 points and grabbed five rebounds as Team USA defeated Africa 102-51 in their opening contest.

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Neitzel to participate in Pan-Am tryouts

MSU senior guard Drew Neitzel has accepted an invitation to try out for the 2007 USA Basketball Pan American Games on July 12-14 at Haverford College (Pa.). Neitzel will compete against 29 other top collegiate players in the country for the chance to make the final 12-player roster. Of the 30 players partaking in the trials, 14 will be seniors in 2007-08, 11 will be juniors and five will be sophomores.

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Neitzel scores AP honorable mention

The Associated Press recently named MSU junior basketball guard Drew Neitzel as Honorable Mention All-America. Scoring 20 or more points in 17 games during the season, Neitzel averaged a team-best 18.1 points per game — good for fourth-highest in the Big Ten.

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Forget conference awards, here's the superlatives you really need to know

Now that the MSU basketball team's season has come to a close, it's time to hand out some awards. Most likely to say something that can't be printed in The State News without heavy editing — sophomore guard Travis Walton Walton is pretty tame when he's speaking at the podium during post-game press conferences, but if you're in earshot when the Spartans huddle up before taking the court, prepare for some fantastic sound bites.

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Spartans could be 13 deep next season, Joseph may transfer

The locker room is empty. The equipment is packed away. The players are on hiatus for two weeks — "13 1/2 more days than last year," head coach Tom Izzo said. The season is over for the MSU men's basketball team — a grueling campaign that saw the Spartans go from preseason doormat to a few minutes away from a Sweet 16 berth. "The biggest problem now is where do we go?" Izzo said Wednesday at his year-end press conference.

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Tourney time a holiday for hoops reporter

State News basketball reporter Tom Keller covered MSU's postseason run last week in Winston-Salem, N.C., and was reminded why this is his favorite — and most fattening — time of year. If you don't like the NCAA Tournament, I'm not sure we can be friends.

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Round 2 next

Winston-Salem, N.C. — The familiarity between Marquette and MSU led many to believe Thursday night's first-round matchup would be tightly contested.

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Tales of the 1,300 tapes

Ever wish you could watch film of every 3-pointer Drew Neitzel has ever made off the dribble out of a timeout in a road game? Kevin Pauga can make it happen. Pauga, the video coordinator for the MSU men's basketball team, manages a film scouting system that puts Blockbuster to shame.