Sophomore forward Corey Tropp thinks the next two weekends are the toughest on the MSU hockey team’s schedule.
Travis Walton has not forgotten. The memory of watching Penn State’s student section storm the court after his team’s devastating 85-76 loss in State College, Pa., last season left a sour taste in the senior captain’s mouth — one that he’s been eager to rinse out.
Former Spartans and fellow Flint natives Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson took a chance on MSU head coach Tom Izzo when no one else would, helping turn a struggling basketball program into one of the nation’s elite.
Senior forward Doug DeMartin and senior defender David Hertel are in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., competing in the 2009 adidas Major League Soccer Player Combine.
The NFL’s Denver Broncos announced Monday that former MSU graduate assistant Josh McDaniels would be the team’s next head coach.
Former MSU hockey players Ryan Miller and Tom Anastos were recognized on The Hockey News’ annual list of the 100 People of Power and Influence.
The MSU men’s basketball program will retire the jersey of former Spartans great Morris Peterson prior to Saturday’s game against Illinois at Breslin Center, MSU Athletic Communications announced Monday.
The MSU football team held Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford in check during the first half of the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla. In the second half, however, Stafford showed the MSU defense why he is regarded by many to be the top pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
The balance beam was the MSU gymnastics team’s undoing in its season opener Friday night at Jenison Field House. No. 17 MSU finished the four-team meet in third place behind No. 8 Michigan and No. 16 Illinois while beating Western Michigan for the 54th straight time.
In its 75-62 win against Kansas on Saturday at Breslin Center, the No. 8 MSU men’s basketball team set the pace with a dynamic first half en route to a 19-point halftime lead.
The MSU hockey team has scored a minuscule 35 goals in 22 games. Since the 1950-51 season, it has taken former Spartans teams an average of only 8.95 games to reach the 35-goal mark.
There wasn’t one instant or one specific moment that it clicked for Allyssa DeHaan. It just happened. The 2007-08 season had been tough on the 6-foot-9 junior center, who struggled to find herself on the court, in the classroom and in her relationship with God.
It’s said that defense wins championships. Throw in rebounding and you have the recipe for a pretty strong basketball team. And to get to March this season, the MSU women’s basketball team is going to need to continue its strong performances on its end of the court.
During his first two seasons with the Spartans, Raymar Morgan was an enigma trapped inside a puzzle muddled by a riddle. One game, he’d play so well you’d worry about him leaving school early to take his shot at the NBA. The next, you’d wonder if he was good enough to play on your intramural team.
With a national audience tuned in and the defending national champions in town, the MSU men’s basketball team wanted to make a statement. The one it made was loud and clear: “We’re bringing back our old style of basketball a little bit,” senior guard Travis Walton said. “We’re playing hard, and every time we touch the floor, we’re going to play tough.”
MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo has a gripe with the new Associated Press Top 25 rankings. For once, it has nothing to do with him feeling his team was slighted. “It’s a joke that (Kansas isn’t) rated,” Izzo said about the Jayhawks, who will travel to East Lansing to take on No. 8 MSU at 1 p.m. Saturday.
After an up and down start to the Big Ten season, the MSU women’s basketball team was looking for a spark Thursday night against Northwestern. The Spartans were trounced in their last game, losing 67-49 at Ohio State, and were looking to avenge a 62-48 home loss to Indiana.
The MSU women’s basketball team’s season, in which it finds itself 9-6 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, has boiled down to one issue: consistency. Last week’s slate of games proved that point, as the team beat preseason conference favorite Purdue 68-62 on Thursday and then promptly got annihilated by Ohio State 67-49 on Sunday.
Junior forward Raymar Morgan netted another double-double Friday, becoming the first MSU player to accomplish the feat in three straight games since Paul Davis during the 2005-06 season. Morgan scored 13 points and collected 10 rebounds for the No. 8 Spartans, who defeated Ohio State 67-58 Tuesday night at Breslin Center.
During the his team’s Big Ten home opener against Ohio State on Tuesday, MSU men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo said his team lost focused and looked tired. To put it in Izzo-talk, most of his team lacked “zip.” That is, except for sophomore guard Kalin Lucas.