The MSU men’s basketball team achieved one of its goals Wednesday night, and will look for another Saturday at Penn State. After notching its first Big Ten win Wednesday, the Spartans (10-7 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) will look for their first road victory at 12:17 p.m.
Big Ten play startsThe No.10 MSU gymnastics team kicks off the Big Ten season at 7 p.m. Saturday against Iowa in Jenison Field House.The previously unranked Spartans vaulted into the national rankings after a second-place finish in a field of four at Jenison on Jan.
It’s difficult to imagine a four-hour bus trip could cure all of the Spartan women’s basketball team’s ailments.
MSU head coach Ron Mason has been shooing it away all season, but the injury bug finally bit Tuesday night in Big Rapids. And although it bit hard, the sting doesn’t look quite as bad as it did at first.
For Kelvin Torbert and the MSU men’s basketball team, Wednesday night was a coming out party.Not only did the Spartans’ first Big Ten win register at 65-56 over Purdue (9-10 overall, 1-4 Big Ten), but it brought the emergence of the freshman guard. Last Saturday, Torbert was five-tenths of a second away from the Spartans’ first Big Ten tally - he continued Wednesday where he left off.
Big Rapids - Everything Chris Kunitz did Tuesday night, Adam Hall had an answer for. Kunitz, a Ferris State left wing and the CCHA’s leading goal-scorer, put the Bulldogs up 1-0 and 2-1, but MSU senior right wing Hall provided the equalizer each time. And just when a scoring duel seemed to be shaping up between the two players, MSU freshman center Jim Slater gloved a bad clearing attempt deep in the Bulldog zone, and banged home the game-winning goal to lift No.
MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo said after Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin, it’s time “to start a new streak.”And the Spartans (9-7 overall, 0-3 Big Ten) have a chance to do just that at 8 p.m.
With more than 20 football scholarship offers thrown his way, Joe Karaska had a tough decision at hand.On Sunday, the 6-foot-5, 325-pound offensive lineman picked the green and white, becoming the Spartans’ 15th commitment for the 2002 season.“It was kind of both me and my mom’s decision,” Karaska said.
Construction is plentiful for MSU athletic facilities as the university has begun renovating a new outdoor track and is already revamping Jenison Field House. Both venues received approval by the MSU Board of Trustees last year. In December, the board approved the first phase of a $2.8 million renovation to Ralph Young Field, MSU’s outdoor track facility. Demolition of the old track should be finished by the end of the month, assistant athletics director John Lewandowski said. Greg Ianni, associate athletics director, and Clarence Underwood, athletics director, are overseeing the project for the university. “Shortly after that Greg and Clarence will make a bid for the next phase,” Lewandowski said. When they propose the next bid, a photo or model of what the track will look like must be submitted to the board. The decision to construct the track is directly related to the decision to replace the artificial turf in Spartan Stadium with natural grass. The stadium renovation, which began in December, is scheduled for an Aug.
In Purdue’s basketball media guide, Willie Deanes lists his favorite film as “When We Were Kings” - a documentary about Muhammad Ali’s 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” with George Foreman.Despite the recent Hollywood release of “Ali,” the Big Ten’s leading scorer hasn’t shifted his allegiance.“When We Were Kings’ is still my favorite movie,” Deane, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior guard said.
The sixth-ranked Spartans are in the midst of a rare eight-day, three-game stretch against three different schools at three different arenas. Behind MSU is a 2-0 loss at Western Michigan on Saturday night. Looming on the horizon is a main event showdown against the co-first-place Michigan Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena this Saturday. But for the only time this season, Tuesday is a game-night this week.
A glance at the Spartan women’s basketball team’s spot in the Big Ten conference standings might not fairly portray where the team is at.
Who would have thought the day would come? In a 64-63 heartbreaker against Wisconsin Saturday, the inevitable happened.
Kalamazoo - Sixth-ranked MSU had the pedal to the metal in Friday’s 6-3 win over Western Michigan, but the Spartans’ offensive fuel tank went dry a night later as they sputtered to a 2-0 loss in Kalamazoo.The Spartans (16-5-2 overall, 11-4-1 CCHA) seemed to get all the bounces in the series opener at Munn Ice Arena, but MSU players and coaches were left scratching their heads after their luck took a 180-degree turn Saturday at hostile Lawson Arena.Western (12-9-3, 6-8-2) packed 4,575 rowdy fans into Lawson for a “Black Out” promotion Saturday, and the arena continued to be an Achilles’ heel for the Spartans.
Here lies the 53-game home winning streak of the MSU men’s basketball team at Breslin Center. Thanks for the memories - Nov.
Gymnastics season off to record beginning The MSU women’s gymnastics team opened the season Friday at Jenison Field House with a second-place finish. The four-team field included No.
Champaign, Ill. - Despite their best comeback attempts, the Spartan women’s basketball team dropped their third straight game 72-66 to Illinois at Assembly Hall. The Spartans (10-6 overall, 0-5 Big Ten) trailed by as many as 11 to the Fighting Illini (11-4, 4-1) and faced an eight-point deficit at halftime, before staging a second-half comeback that came up just short. Spartan head coach Joanne P.
Auburn Hills - Bodies hit the floor all night long Friday, but in the end it was MSU’s John Lesneski who remained standing with his arm raised in victory. MSU defeated Michigan 11-9 in the first-ever Toughman Contest fueled by a college rivalry. The kinesiology senior was the fighter who put MSU over the top by winning all four of his contests, including the championship, at the Palace of Auburn Hills. “My head hurts really bad, my thumb is a little messed up, but I’m really happy,” Lesneski said. Lesneski fought four fights in a three-hour time period, explaining his loss for words and desire for aspirin.
The old sports cliché “catch the ball with two hands” haunts Kelvin Torbert after Saturday’s 64-63 loss to Wisconsin.In one motion, the freshman guard caught an inbound pass, cradled the ball and banked in what seemed to be the winning shot as time expired.But after officials reviewed the play, the shot was disallowed.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Former Spartan and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress was cited for missing court Wednesday. Burress was charged for carrying an open alcoholic beverage in downtown Cleveland on Christmas Eve. In his second NFL season, Burress had 66 receptions for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns. No further charges have been made at this time.