Saturday, April 20, 2024

Sports

SPORTS

Sports briefs

Wrestling The men’s wrestling team hits the road this weekend for matches with No.

ICE HOCKEY

Enforcer commands respect

James Jahnke
January 31, 2002

When Brian Maloney is on the ice, people take notice. And referees and opposing players have started to take extra notice. That’s because the 6-foot-1, 208-pound junior left wing has earned a reputation as one of the CCHA’s toughest enforcers. Maloney, 23, is the oldest and most-penalized player on the Spartans - the least-penalized team in the CCHA.

SPORTS

Sports briefs

Spartans lose recruit A hard-hitting linebacker from Ohio decided Wednesday that staying in the Buckeye State was his best choice. Bobby Carpenter will not be playing for the green and white next season - he’ll be playing for Ohio State University. The 6-foot-3, 235 pound linebacker from Lancaster High School picked the Buckeyes instead of MSU, Northwestern and North Carolina. “Location was a factor,” Carpenter said, whose family lives 30 miles from Columbus. Carpenter said getting a chance to see his three younger brothers compete was a factor, but family wasn’t the biggest reason. Carpenter made his decision Monday morning, but MSU remained a top candidate until that point. “They have a great program and a great coaching staff,” he said.

BASKETBALL

Spartans trounce Wolverines, 71-44

Justin A. Rice
January 31, 2002

The MSU men’s basketball team gave head coach Tom Izzo the only thing he asked for on his 47th birthday - a win over rival Michigan. The Spartans (12-8 overall , 3-4 Big Ten) toppled U-M (8-10, 3-5) 71-44 Wednesday night at Breslin Center.

BASKETBALL

Amaker new to rivalry

Justin A. Rice
January 30, 2002

Ann Arbor - Tommy Amaker has never seen a Michigan-MSU basketball game in its entirety. But even though tonight’s game is the 36-year-old U-M head coach’s first experience with the rivalry, he’s no stranger to big games. As a four-year starter at Duke from 1984-87, Amaker was center stage for one of college basketball’s greatest rivalries - Duke vs.

BASKETBALL

Renewed rivalry worries U

Dan Woike
January 30, 2002

Ann Arbor and East Lansing are 65 miles apart, but when MSU and Michigan meet on the basketball court, the gap in talent seems much farther. MSU has toppled U-M seven straight times by an average of 20.4 points.

ICE HOCKEY

Peers praise Masons legacy

James Jahnke
January 30, 2002

MSU head coach Ron Mason’s decision to leave the hockey program and become MSU athletics director surprised many of his colleagues across the nation. “We’re certainly going to miss him at a collegiate hockey level,” Boston College head coach Jerry York said.

SPORTS

Spartans want revenge

Chris Mackinder
January 30, 2002

The MSU women’s basketball team is looking for retribution following a loss to Wisconsin three weeks ago. The Badgers defeated the Spartans 86-78 in double overtime Jan.

ICE HOCKEY

Mason makes difficult decision

Ryan Wallace
January 29, 2002

After meeting with university officials three months ago to discuss possible candidates for athletics director, Ron Mason walked out of the meeting and everything suddenly clicked. “I walked away from that meeting and said, ‘You know, I think I’d be the right person for that position,’” Mason said.

ICE HOCKEY

Replacement put on hold

James Jahnke
January 29, 2002

Nobody really saw it coming, but now that hockey head coach Ron Mason has officially announced he’s vacating his post of 23 years, coaches across the country are expected to start printing out their résumés and sending them to East Lansing.Current MSU assistants Tom Newton and Dave McAuliffe have clearly stated they want the job, but those outside the Spartan hockey program face a stickier situation if they are interested.Rumors have Denver head coach George Gwozdecky, an MSU assistant from 1984-89, in the pole position for the job, but his No.

SPORTS

Tennis sweeps three

On Saturday, the MSU men’s tennis team defeated Toledo and Dayton at home. MSU (4-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) easily defeated Toledo (3-3, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) with a 7-0 score. The Spartans followed it up with a 7-0 win against Dayton (0-2). The women’s team (1-1, 0-0) also defeated Toledo (1-1, 0-0) 7-0 on Saturday. Mark Hicks ‘U’ hits national stage Field hockey coach Michele Madison has been selected as an assistant coach for the U.S.

BASKETBALL

Football experiment helping Spartans cope

Dan Woike
January 29, 2002

One common factor exists among the Spartan men’s basketball and football teams, but that factor may soon multiply.Since freshman quarterback Aaron Alexander joined the team Thursday, basketball head coach Tom Izzo has liked what he’s seen.In fact, Izzo’s been impressed enough with Alexander to continue talks with football head coach Bobby Williams about the possibilities of adding other bodies to his depleted roster.“There’s one or two other guys we’ve looked at, and maybe feel like we could use,” Izzo said.

ICE HOCKEY

Mason leaves program in good shape

MSU’s two oldest players - junior left wing Brian Maloney and sophomore center Tim Hearon - were infants when Ron Mason took over the reins of the Spartan hockey chariot. The rest of the 27-man roster hadn’t even been born yet. While the current players were growing up, losing their teeth, playing floor hockey in gym class and passing notes to childhood crushes, Mason was building the framework for a college hockey dynamo. Under his watchful eye and signature mustache (which has whitened a bit through the years), the Spartan program flourished into one of the elite programs in the country. He arrived from Bowling Green in 1979 and suffered through a pair of losing seasons right off the bat.

SPORTS

Task begins to replace legend

James Jahnke
January 28, 2002

Somebody’s going to have some big shoes to fill. As Ron Mason seems poised to leave the Spartan bench for the athletics director’s office, a giant-sized void in the hockey program will be left behind. Mason, college hockey’s all-time winningest coach with 916 wins, has been synonymous with MSU hockey for the last two decades.