Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

Sports | Football 1087

BASKETBALL

Izzo says Big Ten Tournament can derail a team's confidence

Patrick Walters
March 11, 2003

The Big Ten Tournament is six years old this season, but MSU head coach Tom Izzo isn't convinced its growing pains are done. As the men's basketball team prepares for this weekend's tournament in Chicago, Izzo said Monday the Big Ten Tournament is, at best, a mixed blessing for players and coaches as they prepare for the NCAA Tournament the following week. Izzo said the revenue and exposure the conference generates for Big Ten programs is a positive, but the "one and done" philosophy surrounding the Big Ten Tournament isn't the best representative of a season of hard work. "All you harp on all season is playing 40 minutes," Izzo said.

SPORTS

Sports briefs

Golfers in the midst of 3-day tournament The MSU women's golf team is competing in its third tournament of the spring season at the 31st annual SunTrust Gator Gold Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.

BASKETBALL

Senior re-emerging late in season

Patrick Walters
March 10, 2003

Columbus, Ohio - Senior forward Adam Ballinger is certainly picking a convenient time to heat up. After drudging through a season laden with shooting slumps and abandoned expectations, he has come alive for MSU the past two contests.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans seize 4th seed with sweep

James Jahnke
March 10, 2003

The Nanooks are coming to town.After sweeping Western Michigan this weekend to close out the regular season, the MSU hockey team earned a first-round CCHA Tournament matchup with ninth-place Alaska-Fairbanks starting Friday at Munn Ice Arena.It's been quite a turnaround for the Spartans (21-13-2 overall, 17-10-1 CCHA), who bottomed out at 10th place in the league in early January.

SPORTS

March Madness has 2 meanings

Forget Enron, WorldCom and Washington, D.C. The real crooks are in college basketball. From NCAA suspensions, violations and infractions to Sunday's Duke-North Carolina late-game fracas, the Division I-A ranks of men's hoops are sporting an ugly black eye of corruption this year.

SPORTS

Tourney hopes hinging

Andrew Fifer
March 10, 2003

Indianapolis - Through 27 games this season, the MSU women's basketball team was only familiar with the winning end of blowouts. But Ohio State introduced the Spartans (17-11) to the losing end with a 71-55 thumping Friday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. After MSU head coach Joanne P.

BASKETBALL

Bracket pools, NCAA tourney make March

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.

ICE HOCKEY

Another cold battle

James Jahnke
February 28, 2003

Here we go again. Just two weeks after archrivals MSU and No. 8 Michigan split a hard-fought, home-and-home hockey series, they'll bump heads two more times this weekend - tonight in Ann Arbor and Saturday in Detroit.

SPORTS

Mason: War statements not likely to be accepted

Kristofer Karol
February 28, 2003

It would probably be in the best interest of Spartan athletes to continue facing the U.S. flag during the national anthem, MSU Athletics Director Ron Mason said. His caveat comes after spectators and media have paid increased attention to the unusual action of a women's basketball player at New York's Manhattanville College.

SPORTS

Sports briefs

Dagenais promoted to associate head coach MSU volleyball assistant coach Todd Dagenais was promoted to associate head coach Thursday by head coach Chuck Erbe. Dagenais, who spent 1997 working as a volunteer assistant and 1999-2002 as an assistant coach, has completed five seasons of service to the Spartan team.

ICE HOCKEY

Defense, goaltender hope to contain Michigan's Tambellini

James Jahnke
February 27, 2003

Michigan left wing Jeff Tambellini played so well against MSU two weeks ago that, when asked to describe the dynamic freshman, Spartan head coach Rick Comley said he didn't have a big enough adjective to do the job. One suggestion would be "dominating," considering Tambellini scored four of U-M's six goals against the Spartans that weekend.

SPORTS

Spartans set to rebound on road

Dawn Klemish
February 27, 2003

For the second time this week, the women's basketball team faces a Big Ten team it hasn't seen this season when it takes on Iowa today.Despite the reduced preparation time for the matchup due to the Spartans' game on Monday, junior forward Julie Pagel said the Spartans (15-10 overall, 8-6 Big Ten) aren't worried.Heading into Tuesday's practice Pagel said the team didn't know much about this year's Hawkeyes (14-11, 6-8) but still had two days to soak up information, combined with a few veterans to aid the learning."Our plan is always to take one game at a time," Pagel said.

BASKETBALL

Spartans try to cool off Golden Gophers

Patrick Walters
February 26, 2003

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.

ICE HOCKEY

'Cats special to Comley; Slater 'doubtful'

James Jahnke
February 26, 2003

MSU head coach Rick Comley's second go-around with Northern Michigan still felt weird. However, it wasn't quite as strange as his first encounter with the team he coached for 26 seasons before coming to East Lansing this year. This weekend, Comley and his family reacquainted themselves with several old friends from Northern who traveled to MSU for the teams' two-game series. Of course, he saw many of the same people when the Spartans traveled to Marquette for a series in October.

ICE HOCKEY

Falardeau content as a grinder

James Jahnke
February 25, 2003

It's OK by Lee Falardeau if no one ever confuses him with Jaromir Jagr or a similarly skilled, speedy hockey player.The 6-foot-4, 211-pound sophomore center knows his role on the MSU hockey team extends beyond racking up goals and assists.There's defense to be played.