Tomorrow is the first day of March, which means the madness of college basketball is almost upon us. During a three-week span (perfect for hoops junkies), reputations are built, hearts are broken and legends are made. This is by far the greatest sporting event of them all.
The Spartans are inching closer and closer to the NCAA Tournament. But the road leading to the first round still has sharp turns.
It was a traffic jam of a game.Stops and starts of plays, officials' whistles and the timekeeper's horn were the most distinguishable features of MSU's 71-61 win over Minnesota on Wednesday night in front of a capacity Breslin Center crowd.Officials whistled 55 personal fouls against the Spartans (15-11 overall, 7-6 Big Ten) and Golden Gophers (16-8, 8-5), 27 and 28 each respectively.
The Spartans needed to play with desperation Wednesday night. And they did just that. Despite leading by double-digits for most of the game, the Spartans (15-11 overall, 7-6 Big Ten) softened in the latter half of the contest.
MSU is walking into a win-lose situation heading into tonight's matchup with Minnesota. Win and keep hopes of an NCAA Tournament berth alive; lose and consider its dance card lost in the mail.A loss at the Breslin Center tonight for the Spartans (14-11 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) could be catastrophic and running the table in the Big Ten Tournament might be the Spartans only hope for reaching the NCAA Tournament.The Golden Gophers, on the other hand, are looking to steal a conference game on the road to keep their own tourney hopes afloat.Minnesota (16-7, 8-4) strung several lopsided runs together en route to a 77-69 win in January when the teams met at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
The Spartans were in a must-win situation Wednesday night and they didn't let the opportunity slide by.MSU (15-11 overall, 7-6 Big Ten) kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive by defeating Minnesota 71-61 in front of a boisterous Breslin Center crowd.Sophomore forward/guard Alan Anderson led the Spartans with 18 points, while sophomore guard Kelvin Torbert added 17.
He's the floor general, the basketball version of a quarterback, and the leader - the point guard.
The Spartans' bubble is close to bursting. After losing their 11th game of the season to No.
Down just one point with 17 seconds left to play in Sunday's game against No. 15 Syracuse, MSU called a time-out to set up an open look at the game's winning basket. It wouldn't come. The Spartans (14-11 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) dropped their second home game of the season against a nonconference opponent Sunday afternoon, narrowly losing to the Orangemen (19-4) in frantic fashion, 76-75. MSU had three short-range chances - albeit obstructed ones - from sophomore guard Kelvin Torbert, senior forward Adam Ballinger and sophomore forward/guard Alan Anderson to nail the game-winning shot in the game's final seconds.
Sophomore guard Chris Hill delivered a dynamite performance Sunday afternoon, but the rest of his teammates dropped the bomb. The Spartans couldn't take advantage of Hill's spectacular 34-point game, falling in a 76-75 thriller. Hill set a Big Ten record with 10 3-pointers en route to his career-high 34 points.
When the Spartans are struggling, one medicine always seems to provide the cure - Breslin Center. It's no secret MSU has struggled on the road this year (1-6 in the Big Ten and 3-9 overall). But playing in front of the 14,759 home fans, including the boisterous Izzone has been the answer to the road woes. Aside from one home blemish - an 81-76 defeat to Toledo on Dec.
Champaign, Ill. - Head coach Tom Izzo can only wish Illinois freshman guard Dee Brown signed with MSU. Izzo recruited Brown last year as a backup point guard for former Spartan Marcus Taylor.
Champaign, Ill. - The Spartans were out of their league Tuesday night, suffering a 70-40 Big Ten shellacking at the hands of Illinois at Assembly Hall. The Spartans' 40-point effort was the lowest ever under head coach Tom Izzo, and the worst loss since the coach's rookie year, when the team lost by 36 to Iowa in 1996.
Champaign, Ill. - The stage was set for a Hollywood comeback story.But judging from the sour scowl on sophomore forward Alan Anderson's face following Tuesday's 70-40 loss to No.
This season, the MSU men's basketball team is in the middle of a personality crisis: Goliath at home and David on the road. The Spartans (14-9 overall, 6-5 Big Ten) are relatively dominant at Breslin Center, boasting a 10-1 record this season - 5-0 in the Big Ten.
Plain and simple, the Big Ten picture is cloudy. It wasn't particularly sunny in the preseason, but three teams were supposed to vie for the conference crown: MSU, Indiana and Illinois. With three weeks left in the season, not one of those teams are leading the Big Ten.
If basketball had three stars of the game like hockey, Kelvin Torbert would have been the undisputed first star Saturday.The sophomore guard scored a career-high 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting in MSU's 64-51 win over Northwestern.
It was low-scoring, ugly and slow, but that's the way the MSU men's basketball team liked it Saturday, knocking off visiting Northwestern 61-54.The Spartans (14-9 overall, 6-5 Big Ten) again defended Breslin Center, improving to 5-0 at home in conference play.
Staggering into the Big Ten season with back-to-back losses has forced the Spartans to dance on the NCAA Tournament bubble much of the season. And in just over a month - on March 16, to be exact - the field of 65 will be released.
In MSU's 64-53 loss to Wisconsin on Tuesday, the Badger defense had an answer for every Spartan offensive option - except freshman forward Erazem Lorbek.