SPORTS
After winning conference crown, MSU ready for NCAA opening game
It was mere days ago that the field hockey team clinched its first Big Ten Championship in four years.
FOOTBALL
MSU wary of different Nebraska environment
Going on the road in Big Ten play, members of the No. 14 MSU football team often know what to expect from fans.
BASKETBALL
Champions Classic will face off experience with new talent
As a freshman, Branden Dawson was guarding one of the nation’s premier players on one of the largest stages. The now-junior forward was guarding North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes in his first collegiate game, as well as the first game ever played on an aircraft carrier in front of the President of the United States and a nationally televised audience. On Tuesday, No. 2 MSU will be back on the big stage, this time in Chicago for the Champions Classic against No. 1 Kentucky.
MEN'S SOCCER
Bennett continues to star in net for MSU
It’s safe to say Zach Bennett is one of the best goalkeepers in the country. The sophomore goalkeeper at the back of the No. 18 MSU men’s soccer team is ninth in the country in save percentage (.865), 15th in total saves (90), 17th in saves per game (5.29) and 32nd in goals against average (.769).
SPORTS
Alum living dream after poker victory
Just three days after winning $8.3 million in a poker tournament, Ryan Riess perfectly summed up how things are going in four words: “Life is a dream,” the 2012 MSU alumnus tweeted.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Izzo, MSU looking for No. 1 spot
As his team prepares for tipoff in a highly touted contest against No. 1 Kentucky in Chicago, head coach Tom Izzo said Monday he can’t remember a non-Final Four matchup with as much national buzz as tonight’s Champions Classic is receiving.
SPORTS
Field hockey seniors wanted to give freshman Big Ten title
Accomplishment. Pride. Happiness. Head coach Helen Knull said those three words are among thousands the team could use to describe winning the Big Ten Championship. But for three of the members of the field hockey team, perhaps a different word is more fitting: familiar.
SPORTS
Field hockey seniors wanted to give freshman Big Ten title
Accomplishment. Pride. Happiness. Head coach Helen Knull said those three words are among thousands the team could use to describe winning the Big Ten Championship. But for three of the members of the field hockey team, perhaps a different word is more fitting: familiar.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
MSU women's basketball faces No. 6 Notre Dame
As the men prepare to take on top-ranked Kentucky, Suzy Merchant and the No. 20 MSU women’s basketball team will face its own challenge Monday night. The Spartans will open their season against No. 7 Notre Dame at 7 p.m. in South Bend, Ind.
SOCCER
The long road back
The fall of 2012 wasn’t kind to the MSU women’s soccer team. Three players suffered anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, tears across a stretch of games, an injury becoming increasingly common in women’s athletics. Then-sophomore Lisa Vogel and then-senior Kelsey Kassabf each tore an ACL. Kassab tore hers just one game prior to teammate Jessica White’s, while Vogel tore hers in a game against Iowa. In only her third soccer match in a Spartan uniform, White suffered her torn ACL, something female athletes face more than men.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Trice looking to make statements in healthy season
Each and every day, Travis Trice is working to prove himself. On a team with four- and five-star talent, such as Gary Harris, Keith Appling, Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson, Trice can sometimes be lost in the shuffle.
ICE HOCKEY
MSU hockey drops two games at Michigan Tech
In their first trip to Michigan Tech in almost 30 years, the MSU hockey team came away with a pair of losses this weekend. The Spartans (3-5 overall) fell 3-0 on Friday night, followed by a 3-2 overtime loss to the Huskies (3-6-1 overall, 1-1 WCHA) on Saturday.
VOLLEYBALL
MSU volleyball beats Northwestern, loses to Illinois
Junior libero Kori Moster entered the Spartan record books last Friday. With 24 digs in the team’s 3-1 victory over Northwestern, Moster topped former MSU volleyball outside hitter Veronica Morales to become MSU’s all-time digs leader.
FOOTBALL
MSU moves up to No. 14 in AP Poll
After its second bye week, the MSU football team moved up three spots to No. 14 in the latest Associated Press Top 25. The Spartans (8-1 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) have slowly ascended the polls by building a five-game winning streak since their Sept. 21 loss at Notre Dame.
FOOTBALL
Big Ten recap: Nebraska downs U-M, still in Legends race with MSU
As the MSU football team took a bye week to catch its breath, the rest of the Big Ten carried on this weekend, providing matchups that could be strong indicators of how the conference will wrap up. Multiple teams made moves to jockey for a spot in the Big Ten Football Championship Game while others looked to move into bowl eligibility or salvage their respective season with a win.
BASKETBALL
Ellis opts not to redshirt
After talk of redshirting this season, freshman guard Alvin Ellis III will not redshirt his freshman year. The six-foot-four guard was a late signee to last season’s recruiting class after originally having committed to Minnesota. However, Ellis chose to look at other options after Tubby Smith was fired in March, and eventually signed on with MSU in late April.
SPORTS
MSU field hockey stages comeback to win Big Ten Tournament
For the first time since 2009, the MSU field hockey team is Big Ten Champions. Senior midfielder Adelle Lever scored the game-winner with less than eight minutes left in the game to clinch the Big Ten Championship for MSU over Iowa, 3-2.
SOCCER
Big Bear back in East Lansing as MSU tops UM
The Big Bear is coming back to East Lansing. The No. 18 MSU men’s soccer team finished off the regular season in style with a 2-0 win against arch rival Michigan Saturday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium.
SPORTS
Izzo responds to Calipari, talks Champions Classic
It’s obvious when you look at No. 1 Kentucky’s roster. Seven McDonald’s All-Americans, more than a handful of future NBA first-round picks, and arguably the greatest pool of freshman talent ever assembled at one school for a single college basketball season.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Dawson, Trice start healthy years off right
This time last year, Branden Dawson and Travis Trice were coming off of a summer where neither were able play and develop. Dawson, a junior forward, was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament he sustained in the final regular season game against Ohio State during his freshman year.