With 12:31 remaining and his team trailing Wisconsin 41-29, MSU head coach Tom Izzo called a 30-second timeout with a very simple message for his team — play defense. The sixth-ranked Spartans did as their coach asked, outscoring the Badgers 32-9 the rest of the way to win 61-50 on Sunday at Breslin Center.
Bowling Green, Ohio — Saturday’s game was a first and a last for Bowling Green senior goaltender Jimmy Spratt. In the Falcons 4-0 victory over the MSU hockey team, Spratt earned his first career home shutout during his last game at BGSU Ice Arena.
After each goal scored by the MSU hockey team, members of the Spartan Brass take a celebratory lap around Munn Ice Arena with their instruments. But when MSU scored its third goal of the night, the band didn’t start the lap at their usual rallying point. Instead, they were 50 feet away from their section – trying to make it back from an MSU goal that was scored only 26 seconds earlier.
Six straight losses in January led Wisconsin to be a team written off by many people around the country. MSU head coach Tom Izzo, however, was not one of those people.
The MSU women’s basketball team set a record for defense Thursday, beating Michigan 52-27. The 27 points the Spartans held U-M to are the lowest ever allowed at Breslin Center. The previous low was also against U-M, when MSU beat the Wolverines 67-33 on Jan. 18, 2004.
Every fall, college football administrators around the country collectively hold their breath in anticipation of their grades. Atypical of grades normally seen on college campuses, these are released by the Black Coaches & Administrators, or BCA, and reflect on the demographics of black coaches in Division I football programs.
It’s once again that time to guess the outcome of this weekend’s games with the State News prognosticators.
Nobody wants to finish in last place. But with the 10th place MSU hockey team playing a home-and-home series against last place Bowling Green this weekend, it’s not farfetched to say the loser of the weekend might finish at the bottom of the pile in the CCHA this season.
Whatever Michigan guard Manny Harris tried to do, it simply wouldn’t work. The Wolverines’ 6-foot-5 guard tried to drive through the lane, post up in the paint and spot up from three, but wherever he went on Feb. 10, MSU senior guard Travis Walton was there in his face.
Intensity hasn’t been a problem for the MSU women’s basketball team all season. But in Michigan week, the Spartans have ratchetted up any extra moxie they have left to get the best of their in-state rivals and keep themselves on track for a Big Ten Championship.
The Big Ten Conference has always been a league known for its physical style of play, with the MSU men’s basketball team embodying that image for the past decade.
Former MSU football great Brad Van Pelt died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack in Harrison, according to the MSU athletics department. He was 57 years old.
For more than a month, Purdue forward Robbie Hummel had been waiting for his injured back to heal. His back felt so good Tuesday, he gave his entire team a ride.
Throughout the season, Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers have firmly taken over the role of dynamic scorers for the MSU men’s basketball team. With the glory of that role also comes the challenge of drawing the opponent’s best defender, which on Tuesday night was the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Going into its opening weekend, Eric Roof has no problems rattling off the MSU baseball team’s strengths. It was the weaknesses he was stumped on.
Scoring first has been the catalyst for the success of the MSU hockey team of late. The Spartans have scored the first goal in each of the last five games, going 2-1-2 in that span — earning seven points to pull into a tie for 10th place in the CCHA.
Purdue is listed next on the MSU men’s basketball team’s schedule, but head coach Tom Izzo still isn’t sure which team will show up tonight at Mackey Arena. It could either be the team with Robbie Hummel or the team without him. According to Izzo, the difference between those scenarios is like night and day.
The last time the MSU women’s basketball team got a full week of rest was prior to the Jan. 15 game against Michigan, a 41-37 win in Ann Arbor. Since then, the Spartans have won seven of eight games, moving into first place in the Big Ten.
The MSU hockey team had the towel in hand. After being pushed around, pummeled and knocked down time and time again this season, it would have been easy to simply toss in the towel and prepare for the next fight — or next season.
Good old-fashioned grit. That’s how the MSU women’s basketball team has made its way to the top of the Big Ten standings the last month.