He's not going to start singing "Hail to the Victors" anytime soon, but head coach Tom Izzo says he's not the same coach who let his hatred for Michigan "gnaw" at him earlier in his career. "I don't like Michigan — who's kidding who?" Izzo said.
Slowly but surely the Spartans are coming around. Riding a three-game winning streak, MSU has made a name for itself sharing the ball. And it's not just the point guard who has been the main distributor.
Perfect? Maybe not quite. But No. 11 MSU was about as close as it could be on Saturday in its most lopsided win of the season, an 85-55 rout of No.
After landing a top 20 2006 recruiting class, MSU men's basketball coach Tom Izzo already secured commitments from two of the top guards in the 2007 class. Kalin Lucas, of Orchard Lake St.
Big Ten Men 1. Wisconsin (4-0 Big Ten, 14-2 overall) Defeated Northwestern 68-52 on Saturday 2.
The bad news: The No. 14 MSU men's basketball team lost its first two Big Ten games and is in danger of falling out of the conference race before it even starts. The worse news: The Spartans have to right the ship tonight against No.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo isn't necessarily disappointed that his team lost its opening Big Ten games to Illinois and Wisconsin.
Madison, Wis. — Tom Izzo thinks MSU should be considered 2-0 in the Big Ten right now. Oh sure, the standings will show Illinois and Wisconsin each recently recorded a victory over the Spartans.
The No. 14 MSU men's basketball team will play its third Top 10 team of the season when it squares off against No.
Despite placing three teams in the Elite Eight and two in the Final Four last season, the perception of the Big Ten is that it's still not a power conference when it comes to men's basketball. But now is as good a time as any to change that as all 11 Big Ten teams meet foes from the Atlantic Coast Conference in the seventh annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Matt Trannon is all but ready to go for the Spartans but head coach Tom Izzo joked the senior forward is "in the doghouse" because he brought the flu to the rest of the team.
Eight schools, three days and unlimited college basketball — now that's paradise. This year's EA Sports Maui Invitational was pegged as the best ever, with four schools in the preseason Top 10.
Lahaina, Hawaii — By the time the third-place matchup rolled around Wednesday afternoon, the MSU men's basketball team had played four games in five nights. And the fatigue showed as the Spartans committed 27 turnovers, more than twice that of Arizona.
The men's basketball team was given a brief scare recently when one of its most indispensable players went down with an injury. Junior guard Shannon Brown sustained a bruised rib during an exhibition game Monday against Lake Superior State when he collided with redshirt freshman forward Marquise Gray.
There are still some question marks for the MSU men's basketball team as its regular season opener approaches.
Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager are murderous on the wings. MSU's tandem of athletic guards has shown an ability to finish dunks and alley-oops on the fast break that is nearly unparalleled in the realm of college basketball. But with the departure of Kelvin Torbert, Chris Hill, Alan Anderson and Tim Bograkos, there is a question as to whether or not the duo will be able to get up and down the court at the same break-neck pace as in previous seasons. Depth is now a major concern in the MSU backcourt, with the only feasible substitutes for Ager, Brown and sophomore point guard Drew Neitzel being two unproven freshmen: Maurice Joseph and Travis Walton.
There's no shortage of big bodies eager to mix it up in the paint on the MSU men's basketball team. Though the inexperienced White squad fell to the Green squad, 84-44, its frontcourt demonstrated the talent and resolve necessary to give MSU a solid bench throughout the upcoming season. Redshirt freshmen Idong Ibok and Goran Suton showed no hesitation in attacking the basket from the low block during Saturday's Green-White scrimmage, despite being matched up against more experienced players.
Chicago — The expectations keep growing for the MSU men's basketball team. MSU is ranked near the top in most preseason publications, and now they have one more expectation to live up to: preseason Big Ten favorite. Head coach Tom Izzo's squad was selected as the favorite by the media attending Sunday's Big Ten basketball Media Day. "It's best to be picked high and try to meet those expectations than it is to be picked low and try to beat those expectations," Izzo said. Last year's national runner-up Illinois and Indiana follow the Spartans in the poll. "There's probably seven or eight teams in the conference that can be competitive," said Bruce Weber, Illinois' head coach and the reigning national Coach of the Year.
Fans will get their first glimpse of the MSU men's basketball team in the annual Green-White game at Breslin Center on Saturday. The game will tip 20 minutes after the conclusion of the MSU football game. Most of the players agree this year's team will be better than last season's Final Four participant, since it has four starters returning — sophomore guard Drew Neitzel, junior guard Shannon Brown, senior guard Maurice Ager and senior center Paul Davis. "We've got two of the best athletes in the country playing the wings," Davis said.
The MSU men's basketball team received its third verbal commitment from the class of 2006 — this one coming from 7-foot center Tom Herzog. The Flint native is ranked as the 11th best center in the class by www.scouthoops.com and settled on MSU last Friday. "Herzog is going to be a great player down the line," said Jeff Goodman, a national recruiting expert for www.scouthoops.com.