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Sports | Basketball

BASKETBALL

Spartan defense deflates Hoosier star

Chris Mackinder
January 29, 2003

For the second time in as many games, the MSU basketball team locked in to the opponents' leading scorer and shut him down.But unlike Sunday's loss to U-M, the Spartans' (11-8 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) defense on Indiana guard Bracey Wright proved to be crucial and, arguably, the difference in Tuesday night's 61-54 victory over the Hoosiers at Breslin Center.Against the Wolverines, MSU held U-M's leading scorer LaVell Blanchard to only two points.Wright, who had missed Indiana's last four games and hadn't seen any action since Jan.

BASKETBALL

Nothing special about Green-and-White play in loss

Patrick Walters
January 27, 2003

There's a sports adage that says special players make special plays on special days. But to the embarrassment of the MSU men's basketball team Sunday, most of the special players donned maize and blue. The plays that determined Sunday's 60-58 loss to intrastate rival Michigan simply didn't turn in the Spartans' favor.

BASKETBALL

Once green with envy, U-M is back

Ann Arbor - There hadn't been so much excitement for an MSU-Michigan basketball game in nearly five years. The Spartan men's basketball team had won the last eight meetings, but were on the ropes, entering the game with a 1-7 record outside the confines of Breslin Center. And the Wolverines were ready to take advantage.

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Anagonye's sudden leadership helps team to blow-out victory

Chris Mackinder
January 23, 2003

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.

BASKETBALL

Spartans dominate Penn State at Breslin

Patrick Walters
January 23, 2003

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.

BASKETBALL

Spartans in need of a victory

Patrick Walters
January 22, 2003

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.

BASKETBALL

Lorbek adjusts to college basketball

Patrick Walters
January 21, 2003

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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New Year's resolution: start winning

Chris Mackinder
January 17, 2003

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

Chris Mackinder
January 16, 2003

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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Offensive woes hurt struggling Spartans

Chris Mackinder
January 15, 2003

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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Inconsistency a constant

Chris Mackinder
January 13, 2003

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 stumble to win

Patrick Walters
January 10, 2003

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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Spartans shoot for first Big Ten road triumph

Chris Mackinder
January 10, 2003

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.