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Squad rallies behind Taylor
Champaign, Ill. - Despite playing without sophomore guard Marcus Taylor for most of the second half, the Spartans hung on to upset No.
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Illinois Cook keeps game within reach in first half
Champaign, Ill. - Forward Brian Cook carried No. 12 Illinois against the Spartans in the first half Sunday at Assembly Hall. But after scoring 20 points in that half, the 6-foot-10, 240 -pounderonly scored two points in the second half as MSU (13-8 overall, 4-4) routed the Illini (15-7, 4-5) 67-61.
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Spartans ready for Illinois
Despite No. 12 Illinois’ two-game losing streak, the MSU men’s basketball team will have its hands full Sunday at Assembly Hall. The Illini (15-6 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) haven’t lost a Big Ten game at home this season, but they are coming off a 78-67 loss to conference leader No.
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Spartans trounce Wolverines, 71-44
The MSU men’s basketball team gave head coach Tom Izzo the only thing he asked for on his 47th birthday - a win over rival Michigan. The Spartans (12-8 overall , 3-4 Big Ten) toppled U-M (8-10, 3-5) 71-44 Wednesday night at Breslin Center.
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SPORTS UPDATE: Spartan win strengthens hold on rivalry; future remains uncertain
With its eighth-straight win over the Wolverines, the Spartans reaffirmed their dominance in the state’s age-old rivalry. MSU (12-8 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) has maintained a 23.6-point average margin of victory during the streak. On Wednesday, Michigan (8-10, 3-5) started strong, scoring the first five points, but MSU responded quickly with an 11-0 run to take control.
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Amaker new to rivalry
Ann Arbor - Tommy Amaker has never seen a Michigan-MSU basketball game in its entirety. But even though tonight’s game is the 36-year-old U-M head coach’s first experience with the rivalry, he’s no stranger to big games. As a four-year starter at Duke from 1984-87, Amaker was center stage for one of college basketball’s greatest rivalries - Duke vs.
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Renewed rivalry worries U
Ann Arbor and East Lansing are 65 miles apart, but when MSU and Michigan meet on the basketball court, the gap in talent seems much farther. MSU has toppled U-M seven straight times by an average of 20.4 points.
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Football experiment helping Spartans cope
One common factor exists among the Spartan men’s basketball and football teams, but that factor may soon multiply.Since freshman quarterback Aaron Alexander joined the team Thursday, basketball head coach Tom Izzo has liked what he’s seen.In fact, Izzo’s been impressed enough with Alexander to continue talks with football head coach Bobby Williams about the possibilities of adding other bodies to his depleted roster.“There’s one or two other guys we’ve looked at, and maybe feel like we could use,” Izzo said.
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Hoops team get depth from the football field
After a rash of injuries, the MSU men’s basketball team is looking to the football team to fill holes on its roster.Anytime a team has a lot of injuries, it’s hard to prepare for opponents, ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said.“When you’re short-handed you can’t practice as long or as hard as you want to,” Bilas said.
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Wolfe out for season with hamstring tear
The Spartans will be without sophomore forward Adam Wolfe for the remainder of the season. Wolfe suffered a severe hamstring tear to his right leg in the first half of Saturday’s Penn State game. “It’s very disappointing news,” said MSU head coach Tom Izzo in a written statement.
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Despite loss, Spartans find positives in Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa - Tuesday night was definitely a game between two teams that wanted to exit the Big Ten basement and save a chance at the conference title.It went down to the wire.
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Judgment lost in heat of battle
Iowa City, Iowa - Late in the MSU men’s basketball team’s 75-71 Tuesday night loss to Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Jason Andreas had his shot blocked.
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Andreas continues to improve
Before the season even began, Jason Andreas lost his nose for the ball.The 6-foot-10, third-year sophomore center broke his nose three times in the preseason and hasn’t been the same since, MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo said.“He was playing more like Rambo as a freshman and sophomore, and more like Tinkerbell as a junior,” Izzo said.
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Hoops team heads to Iowa
Coming off its first road win at Penn State, the MSU men’s basketball team looks to duplicate that feat in Iowa.Like MSU (11-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten), the No.
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SPORTS UPDATE: Spartans topple Penn State in first road win
State College, Penn. - The MSU men’s basketball team finally won a game outside the friendly confines of Breslin Center. MSU (11-7 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) lost six-straight games away from home before it beat Penn State, 77-65, Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center. “That was a huge win,” freshman guard Chris Hill said.
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Spartans look for road win
The MSU men’s basketball team achieved one of its goals Wednesday night, and will look for another Saturday at Penn State. After notching its first Big Ten win Wednesday, the Spartans (10-7 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) will look for their first road victory at 12:17 p.m.
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Spartans earn first Big Ten victory
For Kelvin Torbert and the MSU men’s basketball team, Wednesday night was a coming out party.Not only did the Spartans’ first Big Ten win register at 65-56 over Purdue (9-10 overall, 1-4 Big Ten), but it brought the emergence of the freshman guard. Last Saturday, Torbert was five-tenths of a second away from the Spartans’ first Big Ten tally - he continued Wednesday where he left off.
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Spartans look to rebound
MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo said after Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin, it’s time “to start a new streak.”And the Spartans (9-7 overall, 0-3 Big Ten) have a chance to do just that at 8 p.m.
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Deane has shooters touch
In Purdue’s basketball media guide, Willie Deanes lists his favorite film as “When We Were Kings” - a documentary about Muhammad Ali’s 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” with George Foreman.Despite the recent Hollywood release of “Ali,” the Big Ten’s leading scorer hasn’t shifted his allegiance.“When We Were Kings’ is still my favorite movie,” Deane, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior guard said.
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Torberts shot not enough
The old sports cliché “catch the ball with two hands” haunts Kelvin Torbert after Saturday’s 64-63 loss to Wisconsin.In one motion, the freshman guard caught an inbound pass, cradled the ball and banked in what seemed to be the winning shot as time expired.But after officials reviewed the play, the shot was disallowed.