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MISSING THE MARK
To say the least, the MSU men's basketball team hasn't lived up to any of the preseason hype. In fact, they have turned Final Four aspirations into mediocrity.
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Spartans dominate Penn State at Breslin
Following a disappointing three-game road swing, the MSU men's basketball team took out its frustrations on a team with no conference wins. The Spartans (10-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) soundly drubbed Penn State on Wednesday 70-36 at Breslin Center, halting their three-game conference losing streak and holding the Nittany Lions (5-10, 0-4) to their lowest point total since joining the Big Ten. The Spartans' win stemmed from a 19-3 MSU run to end the first half after an offensive stalemate early on.
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Anagonye's sudden leadership helps team to blow-out victory
With his team stuck in a whirlwind of losses and inconsistency, Aloysius Anagonye decided it was time to assert himself as a leader.The senior forward paced the Spartans, as MSU (10-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) massacred Penn State 70-36 Wednesday night.After recording his first double-double this season on Saturday with a 12-point, 11-rebound performance against Minnesota, Anagonye dropped in 11 points while adding five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals in 24 minutes of work.
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Spartans in need of a victory
Following three straight road losses, the MSU men's basketball team is limping back to Breslin Center with a do-or-die attitude for tonight's contest against Penn State at 6 p.m. The Spartans (9-7 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) are losers of five of their last six games and on the brink of starting the Big Ten season 1-4. Don't think it hasn't gotten to head coach Tom Izzo. Izzo again cited MSU's costly turnovers, spotty free-throw shooting and inconsistent field-goal percentage as thorns in the Spartans' side Monday.
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Lorbek adjusts to college basketball
On the court, in the classroom and in the locker room, MSU freshman forward Erazem Lorbek is making the adjustment from life and basketball in Europe to the spotlight of the Big Ten. The gangly 6-foot-10 native of Ljubljana, Slovenia, has worked himself into head coach Tom Izzo's rotation since coming to America in August, combining the finesse game he honed playing for Slovenian junior national teams with crashing Big Ten style. While Lorbek is soft-spoken because of the language barrier - sometimes he swears in what looks and sounds like equal parts of English and Slovenian after making the occasional mistake - he said that his adjustment to MSU basketball has been trial by fire. "It's a higher level," Lorbek said of the conference.
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Anderson, teammates crumble under Golden Gophers' pressure
Minneapolis - Alan Anderson's homecoming was miserable - again. Against Minnesota, the sophomore forward spent most of his second trip to Williams Arena on the bench because of early foul trouble.
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New Year's resolution: start winning
So far 2003 has been an awful year for the MSU men's basketball team. But luckily for the Spartans (9-6 overall, 1-2 Big Ten), it is only 17 days into the new year and there is plenty of time to turn things around. Since the beginning of the year, MSU is 1-3.
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Spartans need to prove themselves on road
West Lafayette, Ind. - Plain and simple, the Spartans eagerly anticipate a return to Breslin Center for a basketball game. But MSU (9-6 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) still has a road contest with Minnesota on Saturday before that happens Wednesday against Penn State (5-8, 0-2). And if this year is any clue, the Spartans could be near the cellar of the conference if they lose to the Golden Gophers. With its loss to Purdue on Tuesday night, the MSU men's basketball team not only lost its fourth game in five contests, but it fell to 2-5 this year when playing on the road or at a neutral site. "The times we've played on the road, things haven't gone our way," senior forward Aloysius Anagonye said.
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Sloppy Spartans lose to Purdue, 72-60
West Lafayette, Ind. - To those who witnessed MSU's 72-60 loss to Purdue on Tuesday, it was like déj
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Offensive woes hurt struggling Spartans
West Lafayette, Ind. - In basketball, offense plays a critical part in winning games. Tuesday night, the Spartans didn't have much of it.The end result was a 72-60 loss, which gave MSU (9-6 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) its fourth loss in five games.Offensively, the Spartans entered the game shooting 47.6 percent from the field.
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Spartans try to derail Deane, Boilermakers
The MSU men's basketball team may have fallen from the national rankings following Saturday's 68-64 loss to Iowa, but head coach Tom Izzo said he's far from alarmed."We don't think we're in any panic mode," Izzo said.
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Izzo uses various player packages in loss to Hawkeyes
Iowa City - If a Spartan found himself on the bench in No. 25 MSU's 68-64 loss to Iowa on Saturday, chances are it was a short-lived rest. The Spartans (9-5 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) substituted players 27 times Saturday, shuffling players in and out to reconfigure the lineup 39 times.
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Inconsistency a constant
Iowa City - Throughout the 2002-03 season, the MSU men's basketball team has been consistently inconsistent. Those inconsistencies were highlighted Saturday afternoon as the No.
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Spartans shoot for first Big Ten road triumph
Iowa might not have big names on its roster. But the Hawkeyes pose some problems for the MSU basketball team.Because the Spartans hadn't concluded their game with Ohio State at the time of print, they were null to talk about their matchup with Iowa (9-3, 1-0 Big Ten). And unless they remember much from their games a year ago, MSU players were in the dark about the Hawkeye team."To tell you the truth, we haven't even looked at film on them yet," junior forward Adam Wolfe said following Tuesday's practice.
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Spartans stumble to win
It was tough, physical and at times downright sloppy during No. 25 MSU's grinding win against Ohio State on Thursday at Breslin Center. The Spartans (9-4 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) outlasted the Buckeyes (7-5, 0-1) 66-55, halting a two-game losing skid.
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Izzo expects players to improve on free throws
Heading in to their 53rd season of Big Ten men's basketball, No. 25 MSU is looking for a little charity - from the stripe, that is.After shooting 77.7 percent from the foul line in the first seven games of the season, MSU (8-4) has only shot 67.5 percent in the last five, which is below head coach Tom Izzo's standards.Izzo said missed free throws have "really cost us the last two games, as much as anything."Despite MSU's shooting woes, the Spartans are currently tied for fourth (72.8 percent) among Big Ten teams.
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Spartans try to snap losing streak
Though all the historical information shows the Spartans should have no problem winning their Big Ten opener, they know Ohio State can't be overlooked.The No.
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Fighting Illini a top pick to win Big Ten crown
It's that magical time of year. It's the Big Ten basketball season once again. No.
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Spartans look to net Big Ten title again
After loaning out the Big Ten Championship trophy for a season, the Spartans will face tough tests in their quest to bring the prize back to MSU for a fifth time in six seasons. From the top to bottom of the conference, there isn't a clear cut championship favorite.