A hot Miami (Ohio) squad drained 13 three-point shots en route to an 86-84 win over the MSU women's basketball team in Sunday's championship game of the Spartan Chevrolet Classic. After a short-lived 6-3 lead, MSU found itself trailing for the remainder of the game.
Bowling Green, Ohio - The MSU hockey team traveled south Friday, hoping to get an easy win over a conference doormat before starting a tough stretch of games next weekend.Instead, the Spartans' surprisingly difficult season took another downturn.At MSU's expense, the lowly Bowling Green Falcons notched their first league win - by an overtime score of 3-2 at the BGSU Ice Arena.The Spartans (5-6-0 overall, 3-4-0 CCHA) grabbed a 2-1 lead with less than four minutes to go, but once again, they couldn't hold a late-game advantage.Falcon right wing Tyler Knight scored with 1:54 left in regulation and then center D'Arcy McConvey tallied a controversial goal with 1:50 left in overtime to seal the upset for Bowling Green (3-8-1, 1-7-1).MSU had blown similar late leads to Lake Superior State and Niagara earlier this season, but the Spartans came back to win both of those games.
Despite pulling out a 66-52 win over North Carolina Asheville on Friday night, the MSU men's basketball team still showed its need for a true point guard. The No.
State College, Pa. - Not only did Penn State's Larry Johnson single-handedly embarrass the Spartans on Saturday, he solidified his place among the NCAA's best all-time tailbacks. With 279 rushing yards on 19 carries (14.7 per carry), Johnson became just the ninth running back - and the first in Big Ten history - to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark in a single season.
Had Kim Schram not been in MSU's lineup this weekend, the Spartans might have not picked up two victories.But the sophomore outside hitter was on the floor - and she delivered.
Tom Izzo has a problem. Tom Izzo has a good problem. Tom Izzo has a problem that would make most college hoops coaches salivate, dribbling up and down courtside. Izzo is taking auditions for leader of the 2002-03 MSU men's basketball team. And his players are standing in line to sign up, 6 and 7 feet tall. "I don't think our effort from our leaders is what it should be," Izzo says following the Spartans' first season win Friday as they beat North Carolina Asheville, 66-52. "We're still a leaderless
State College, Pa. - Not only did Penn State's Larry Johnson single-handedly embarrass the Spartans on Saturday, he solidified his place among the NCAA's best all-time tailbacks.With 279 rushing yards on 19 carries (14.7 per carry), Johnson became just the ninth running back - and the first in Big Ten history - to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark in a single season.
State College, Pa. - Just when Spartan fans thought it couldn't get any worse, Penn State trounced MSU 61-7 Saturday night in Happy Valley.The 61 points is the most any MSU squad has yielded since a 63-0 loss to Michigan in 1922.
It's a strange race for the Heisman Trophy this year. The nation's best athletes - Marshall's Byron Leftwich, Ohio State's Maurice Clarett and MSU's Charles Rogers - have been eliminated by injuries or a terrible surrounding cast.
The MSU football team has virtually nothing to play for in the last week of conference play.The Spartans (4-7 overall, 2-5 Big Ten) sit alone in eighth place in the Big Ten standings, and their final push for a bowl bid was thwarted last week in a zany 45-42 loss to Purdue (5-6, 3-4) at Spartan Stadium.But senior offensive guard Paul Harker said in addition to playing for pride, ending the season with a win is enough incentive to play hard."This is the last game we'll play together with these guys," he said.
The Spartans are expected to pick up their first two-win weekend since Oct. 25-26, the last time they played Purdue and Illinois, but they know the task won't be an easy one. MSU has struggled on the road all season long, especially in the Big Ten.
No. 9 Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State Buckeye faithful don't want to even think about the past while Wolverine fans are hoping for déjá vu all over again. Once again, Ohio State will bring an undefeated mark into its contest with U-M, and if recent history is any guide, the Buckeyes will exit Ohio Stadium with a blemish in their record. In 1993, an unranked Wolverine squad demolished the No.
season marred by disappointment and controversy will come to an end for the Spartans in University Park, Pa., against Penn State. The entire coaching staff from this season will be relieved of duty at the end of the season, and the program will be under completely new reigns. At this point, Athletics Director Ron Mason hasn't picked anyone to lead the team, making it impossible to know the program's direction.
This one is for Bobby. As controversy clouds begin to push on past Spartan land, home to the season of shame, I finally found one of those "positives, positives, positives, positives," he was speaking of only weeks before his firing. Suit up senior strong safety Thomas Wright. Known by those close, "T" is the leader of the 2002 Spartan squad. He became the role model junior quarterback Jeff Smoker wasn't during a season desperately looking toward somebody, anybody, with answers. Whether he wanted to, the head-shaved, goateed leader assumed the role of the go-to captain, as senior tailback Dawan Moss and Smoker found themselves indefinitely suspended. And so Wright's casual stroll out of Duffy Daugherty says "follow me." His play inside Spartan Stadium says "play at my level." His walk talked all season.
With three senior cornerbacks on the roster, it seemed improbable that a first-year player would get any significant playing time in the secondary this season for MSU.And that's exactly the mentality freshman cornerback Ashton Watson carried into the game against Michigan on Nov.
Who is MSU's biggest rival? If you said Michigan, you're right. Who is U-M biggest rival? If you said MSU, you're wrong, dead wrong. Let me explain. I'm not saying it isn't a rivalry at all, what I'm saying is it's not mutual. MSU fans get all riled up for this one big game all year, while U-M fans get the luxury of looking past the Spartans and yearning for the Buckeyes. And thanks to the most recent 49-3 drubbing MSU got this season, it makes the case for another rival even more appealing.
If the Spartans hope to muster any sort of offensive attack against Penn State, they'll have to find some way to handle one of the nation's best defensive fronts. From end to end, the Nittany Lions' defensive line is stacked.
The MSU men's basketball team didn't dominated UNC Asheville the way it was expected to Friday night, but it still picked up the win.
Women's basketball kicks off season Senior forward Syreeta Bromfield was labeled one of 30 Players to Watch for the Senior CLASS Award, presented annually to the country's senior player of the year for NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball. The Kingston, Jamaica, native led the Spartans in points and rebounds per game last season, averaging 15.6 and 6.5, respectively.
If you analyzed the MSU hockey team's schedule before the season started, you probably wouldn't have singled out tonight's game at Bowling Green as a pivotal matchup. But that's what it has become, thanks to MSU's rocky .500 start (5-5-0 overall, 3-3-0 CCHA). The Falcons (2-8-1, 0-7-1) don't look very daunting on paper, but the Spartans can't take them lightly - MSU desperately needs a win at 7:05 p.m.