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.
For the second time this season, the MSU hockey team had a chance to earn a weekend sweep. But on Saturday night, a two-goal third period for No. 18 Alaska was too much for MSU to handle, as the Spartans fell 3-1 to the Nanooks at Munn Ice Arena.
Raymar Morgan scored 22 points and Kalin Lucas added 17 as the MSU men’s basketball team bounced back from a halftime deficit Saturday to defeat Northwestern 77-66 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.
For the second time in three games, the MSU hockey team upset a team ranked No. 18 in the country. Last Saturday, the Spartans beat No. 18 North Dakota 2-1 in the Great Lakes Invitational. On Friday night the Spartans beat No. 18 Alaska 2-1 at Munn Ice Arena.
Orlando, Fla. — It’s really something when you think about it: Purposely pulling your fifth-year senior quarterback in a bowl game for an unproven backup redshirt freshman.
Orlando, Fla. — It’s hard for senior defensive end Brandon Long to explain what his first two years as a MSU football player were like. During Long’s freshman year in 2005, the Spartans went 5-6. As a sophomore, his team went 4-8.
Orlando, Fla. — After watching Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford struggle in the first half, the tables turned on MSU’s defense in the second half.
Orlando, Fla. — Georgia head coach Mark Richt could sense his offense was putting too much pressure on itself in the first half of Thursday’s Capital One Bowl. As the series went on and yards became harder to come by, halftime was a welcome relief for the coach.
Orlando, Fla. — The year 2009 began gloomy for the MSU football team, losing 24-12 to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium on Thursday. But with two consecutive postseason bowl appearances and a 9-4 record, the Spartans showed that come the fall months of 2009 and beyond, football could be fun to watch in East Lansing.
Orlando, Fla. — In the first half of Thursday’s Capital One Bowl against MSU, Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford looked like he had partied a little too hard on New Year’s Eve. The junior passer overthrew receivers, missed touch passes and looked to have the energy of a sloth.
Orlando, Fla. -— Gloria Mitchell was walking outside of Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium wearing a pin on her shirt collar underneath her MSU jacket.
Orlando, Fla. — MSU and Georgia will meet in the Capital One Bowl at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. Both teams finished 9-3. The Bulldogs represent the Southeastern Conference and were the preseason No. 1 team in the nation. Here’s an analysis of several key matchups.
The State News sports desk returns to prognosticate both the Capital One Bowl and the Rose Bowl Game.