Colorado Springs, Colo. — In seven career NCAA Tournament games, junior goaltender Jeff Lerg has allowed only 11 goals. Take out the five he allowed against Maine in 2006, MSU’s only NCAA Tournament loss in the last three seasons, and the number becomes staggering – six goals in six games.
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Six-thousand feet and 6,000 screaming fans didn’t bother the MSU hockey team one bit. With three second period goals, the No. 3 seed Spartans stopped highly-favored Colorado College, 3-1, in the NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinal Friday night at World Arena.
Houston – Like a flash, it was gone. The Spartans were dismantled in the first 20 minutes of their NCAA Tournament regional semifinal against Memphis in Houston on Friday, and found themselves in a hole they couldn’t climb out of – eventually losing, 92-74. MSU was picked apart like they hadn’t been all season in a first half that likened itself to a 16-seed versus a one-seed rather than a 5-seed picked to have a chance at upsetting a top team in the country.
The defending national champions aren’t supposed to be a large underdog entering the NCAA Tournament.But considering the circumstances surrounding the MSU hockey team’s West Regional semifinal game against Colorado College tonight, it’s difficult to call the Spartans a favorite. First, there’s what should be a raucous crowd at World Arena, where the host Tigers are 18-2-0 this season. Add in an Olympic-size ice sheet and elevation in excess of 6,000 feet and the odds seemed to be stacked against the Spartans.
At 7 a.m. Monday morning, junior guard Travis Walton busted into roommate junior center Goran Suton’s bedroom with his butt down, head up, on the balls of his feet — chopping his legs back and forth to symbolize his defensive stance.
The MSU hockey team has a tall task ahead as it faces Colorado College at 10 p.m. tonight in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional semifinal at World Arena.
For all that has been said about Tom Izzo’s basketball teams playing like football players and his notorious “war drill” that features football pads, it’s only appropriate that the Spartans will play their Sweet 16 game in a football stadium this weekend.
Despite an injury and two straight losses, the MSU gymnastics team is optimistic about Saturday’s Big Ten Tournament in Ann Arbor.
Mother Nature won’t be very nice to the MSU softball team this weekend in its home opener, but that doesn’t bother the players. A chilly, rainy and snowy weekend is forecast throughout the team’s Friday and Saturday series against Minnesota and double-header against Wisconsin on Sunday.
It may not be the national championship they originally wanted, but it’s the one they are on track to receive.
The State News caught up with freshman guard Brittney Thomas to find out how she got involved with basketball and what she’s like off the court.
With three spring practices down and 12 to go, the message from football head coach Mark Dantonio to his players is simple — “We’ve got to get better.”
There haven’t exactly been the most beautiful days for baseball. With the typical erratic Michigan springtime weather coming through, cold temperatures and snow have forced the MSU baseball team to cancel and postpone scheduled East Lansing games.
The MSU hockey team is doing all it can to prepare for what lies ahead in its NCAA West Regional semifinal game against host Colorado College on Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The MSU women’s basketball team has the ability to lose its next game or take it all the way. Head coach Suzy Merchant said the Spartans have used, and will continue to use the pent up anger and disappointment that came with missing out on the NCAA Tournament to fuel their way to a WNIT championship.
The MSU baseball team will try to get a home game under its belt before this weekend’s Big Ten conference opener against Illinois.
MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo seems to have the ability to see what other people can’t. At least, specifically, in the case of Goran Suton.
Some dedicated MSU basketball fans attend all the home games, an occasional away game and maybe even paint their faces before screaming the fight song at the top of their lungs.
It was the No. 1 seed against the No. 2 seed, but instead of MSU sophomore wrestler Franklin Gomez and Illinois’ Jimmy Kennedy battling for the 133-pound national championship, they squared off in the third-place match at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
Flash back five months. The MSU men’s basketball team was ranked No. 8 in the country, chosen as a favorite to win the Big Ten and Drew Neitzel was named the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.