As the No. 10 seed MSU men’s basketball team tries to rally in the NCAA Tournament, it will look to its point guard for a spark - a position teams traditionally turn to in March.Great point guards have typically led the teams that make runs in the tournament’s history.
March is nearly every sports fan’s favorite month - and despite what the shameless self-promoters at ESPN will tell you, it’s not because “A Season on the Brink” aired. And while the “total sports network” ventures in Brian Dennehy movies, I’ll try to find something a little more worthwhile to write about. I have to resist any urge to write a “65 things I love about March” column, because it’s in the best interest of you, the reader, and my reputation to avoid any and all gimmicky columns - i.e.
The Spartans’ dreams of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament officially ended Sunday when the selection committee passed on the MSU women’s basketball team. As the final bracket was being displayed, the emotions began to show in the Spartans.
After a solid performance Saturday, the fifth-ranked Spartans are moving on in the CCHA Tournament, and MSU head coach Ron Mason is moving on in his career. No.
Indianapolis - The shadows of three consecutive Final Four appearances loom over the MSU men’s basketball team as it enters the NCAA Tournament as a No.
Ron Mason’s last game at Munn Ice Arena ended just the way he wanted - with a Spartan win. The retiring MSU head coach guided the fifth-ranked Spartans to a 4-2 victory over Bowling Green in the first round of the CCHA Tournament in front of 5,896 fans Saturday night. The game wasn’t even as close as its final score, as the Falcons tallied twice in the last four minutes.
Indianapolis - The second round of the Big Ten Tournament witnessed its first big upset.No.
Indianapolis - The MSU men’s basketball team was drowned in a sea of cream and crimson Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse as it was knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament. No.
Fifth-ranked MSU was pushed to its limit by Bowling Green on Friday night, but the Spartans stormed back for a gritty 4-3 overtime victory in front of 5,408 fans at Munn Ice Arena. Senior right wing Adam Hall notched the game-winner 4:57 into overtime, giving MSU a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three CCHA Tournament first-round series.
While many MSU students escaped to sunny beaches, snow-swept ski slopes, or the familiar sights of their hometown during spring break, the fifth-ranked Spartan hockey team kept plugging along in its quest for a national championship. “Spring break?
Indianapolis - If the fifth-seeded Spartans want to beat No. 4 seed Indiana in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, they will have to overcome two big hurdles - their youth and the always-present threat of Hoosier forward Jared Jeffries. Jeffries, the Big Ten Player of the Year, was key to the Hoosiers’ 83-65 win over MSU on Jan.
One day after winning Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career, Spartan sophomore guard Marcus Taylor was selected by coaches and media Tuesday as a member of the All-Big Ten First Team. Taylor led the conference in scoring and assists with averages of 17.7 points and five assists per game.
For a minute or so Saturday night, 6,983 fans at Munn Ice Arena had their eyes fixed on Nathan Shopbell.Shopbell, a 22-year-old electrical engineering senior, isn’t used to being the center of attention.
A monster final week - highlighted by two straight 30-plus scoring games - earned sophomore guard Marcus Taylor Big Ten Player of the Week honors Monday.The honor is the second consecutive time a Spartan has earned the award.
Fifth-ranked MSU did what it could to win a share of the CCHA title Saturday - the last night of the regular season - but the second-to-last night came back to haunt them.The Spartans had to battle for everything Saturday and eventually muscled their way to a 2-0 win over Ferris State in front of 6,983 fans at Munn Ice Arena - the largest crowd at Munn this season.But MSU missed out on the CCHA title when archrival Michigan beat Western Michigan 6-2 in Kalamazoo on Saturday.
The MSU men’s basketball team closed out regular-season play Saturday with its fifth straight win - a 93-79 routing of Iowa on Senior Day at Breslin Center. The win over the Hawkeyes (16-14 overall, 5-11 Big Ten) also guarantees MSU (19-10, 10-6) at least the No.
For weeks, MSU head coach Ron Mason said he wanted the CCHA title race to come down to the last weekend of the season. He got his wish. The fifth-ranked Spartans (23-6-5 overall, 17-5-4 CCHA) enter this weekend’s season finale against Ferris State deadlocked atop the league standings with archrival Michigan. MSU and U-M both play tonight and Saturday with championship implications weighing heavily on every shot, save and goal. Both teams are favored to sweep their home-and-home series - U-M plays sixth-place Western Michigan - but if either team slips up even a little bit, it could pave the title road for a hated rival.
Experiences can take someone a lot of different places. They’ve taken Hawkeye guard Ryan Hogan from Illinois to Kentucky to Iowa, with stops all along the way.
Big Rapids - Playing in one of its biggest games of the season, fifth-ranked MSU laid an egg at Ferris State on Friday night.The Spartans (23-7-5 overall, 17-6-4 CCHA) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second period, but the underdog Bulldogs came back and stole a 3-2 win at Ewigleben Ice Arena.The loss darkens MSU’s league title hopes heading into the last game of the regular season.
A Spartan win Saturday would guarantee the men’s basketball team a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. MSU (18-10 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) needs to win its final regular-season game against Iowa (16-13, 5-10) at Breslin Center to earn the No.