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.
Members of the MSU men's and women's track and field teams turned in impressive performances in Ann Arbor during the weekend.Competing in the Red Simmons Invitational along with Michigan, Central Michigan and Ashland, five Spartans recorded top-three finishes on the men's side while three recorded top-five finishes for the women.The best MSU finish came from junior Steve Manz, who won the shot put competition with a mark of 59 feet, 5 inches.Saturday, the Spartans hit the field in South Bend, Ind., to face Notre Dame.
Spartans wrestling head coach Tom Minkel recorded his 100th victory at MSU on Friday as his team dismantled Northwestern 33-7.But MSU (3-5, 1-1 Big Ten) couldn't maintain its winning ways through the weekend, falling Saturday to No.
After falling to Iowa State by less than three points Jan. 17, the MSU gymnastics team dropped another close meet to Ohio State 195.875-195.175.The loss leaves the Spartans searching for their first victory of the season as their record falls to 0-4 (0-1 Big Ten).Senior Diana Crea won the uneven bars with a score of 9.900.Next up for the Spartans is the State of Michigan Classic at 4:30 p.m.
South Bend, Ind. - Rick Comley's hockey team had just earned three points on the road - which usually is an acceptable outcome - but the coach wasn't happy. "Aw, nuts!" Comley said outside of the visitors' locker room at the Joyce Center on Saturday.
Bloomington, Ind. - From the tip-off, Indiana made it clear this game would be no cakewalk. The MSU women's basketball team (11-7 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) had to struggle with the Hoosiers (9-8, 2-5) for every bucket, but eventually found its first road win of the year Sunday at Assembly Hall.
The MSU women's tennis team evened its record at 2-2, shutting out Toledo 7-0 on Sunday.No Spartan dropped a single set.Junior Caroline Lay was part of the day's toughest matchup as she defeated Toledo's Monica Ribero 7-5, 6-2 in No.
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.
Home and away used to be as clear to distinguish as Déj
The MSU men's and women's swimming and diving teams had a rough weekend.In meets with No.
I haven't been this excited about a sports weekend in quite some time. And lucky for me, and every other diehard sports fan, Sunday provides more than a few sparks - it's a double-dose of fireworks. First, of course, there is Super Bowl XXXVII.
Michigan 75, MSU 59 ... ooohhh, the other game on Sunday! I thought the contest in Ann Arbor was the only one that mattered.
Eight days after the MSU women's basketball team wiped the floor with Indiana at Breslin Center, the Spartans will try to complete a regular-season sweep. In the last meeting, the Spartans (9-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) came away with a 70-44 victory over the Hoosiers (9-6, 2-3). But sophomore guard Kristin Haynie said she knows some things will be different when the Hoosiers have home-court advantage.
MSU senior defenseman John-Michael Liles has plenty of friends on the Notre Dame hockey team - he was teammates with Fighting Irish forwards Connor Dunlop and John Wroblewski and defenseman Brett Lebda in the U.S.
To say the least, the MSU men's basketball team hasn't lived up to any of the preseason hype. In fact, they have turned Final Four aspirations into mediocrity.
Though swift and graceful in the pool, the sidewalk is a different story for freshmen Ian Clutten and Rudolf Wagenaar.Clutten and Wagenaar are from Capetown, South Africa, and aren't as excited with the weather at MSU as they are about everything else."The climate change has been tough," Wagenaar said.
Brad Fast and John-Michael Liles get more ice than Jay-Z's girlfriend. The multitalented senior defensemen have been MSU's main workhorses this year, logging far more minutes than any other Spartan not wearing goalie pads. Fast and Liles are MSU's top defensive pairing in that they play most of the important 5-on-5 shifts every game.
For a team that has struggled on the road, it may be a relief the MSU women's basketball team returns home.Though No.
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.
MSU added some beef to its recruiting class Saturday, when offensive lineman Joe Toth from Florida's Port Charlotte High verbally committed to the Spartans during his visit to campus.Port Charlotte head football coach Ray Hixson confirmed Toth's commitment and said the 6-foot-3, 280-pounder chose MSU from a list that included Eastern Kentucky, Central Florida, Florida, Florida Atlantic and the U.