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Sports

BASKETBALL

Spartans fall to Wildcats, 61-49

Evanston, Ill. - The MSU men’s basketball team lost to Northwestern Wednesday for the first time since 1997 and only the second time since 1987. Before the 61-49 loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena, MSU won 27 of the last 28 games between the two teams.

FOOTBALL

Recruits part 1

Kyle Brown West Bloomfield High: West Bloomfield 6-1, 195 pounds Wide receiver Brown verbally committed in late January and said he’s looking forward to teaming up with other fast wide receivers. “It’s gonna be pretty fun,” Brown said. His senior season was cut short by a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but that didn’t stop schools from recruiting him. His junior season he rushed for 1,300 yards and passed for 300.

FOOTBALL

Defense hopes to fill hole

The departure of senior linebacker Josh Thornhill to the NFL leaves a big hole in the middle of the MSU football team’s defense next season.Enter a hopeful replacement for next fall - Riverside-Brookfield High (Illinois) linebacker Steve Kielp, who will sign a letter of intent to play for head coach Bobby Williams today.“I think Kielp, a top 10 player in the state of Illinois, is very important to Michigan State,” said Bill Kurelic, recruiting analyst for MidwestRecruiting.com.

SPORTS

Hoops team moving up

MSU women’s head basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie is in the midst of doing what most coaches wouldn’t be able to do. She is turning around the women’s basketball program.

BASKETBALL

Northwestern offense poses challenge to U

The MSU men’s basketball team will do its best to stay awake tonight against Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena. “It’s kind of a lull-you-to-sleep offense,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said of the Wildcats’ attack. Wildcats head coach Bill Carmody coached under the legendary Pete Carril at Princeton from 1982-96, and was the Tigers’ head coach until 2000.

FOOTBALL

Spartans stay in state, add to receiving corps

The key ingredients to a passing attack are a quarterback with a strong arm and wide receivers with speed and height.And the Spartans didn’t have to look far for the speed and height, with three Michigan wide receivers among MSU football’s 2002 recruiting class.The 6-foot-7 Matt Trannon joins Kyle Brown and Agim Shabaj, who have both been clocked 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash.Brown and Trannon are ready to sign Wednesday, but Shabaj is having second thoughts.

BASKETBALL

Taylors status questionable

When sophomore guard Marcus Taylor left Sunday’s game early in the second half, things looked bleak.But after the final buzzer sounded, the MSU men’s basketball team recorded more than a 67-61 win over No.

SPORTS

Super Bowl: Partying key as game itself

Call it Super Bowl FunDay, not Sunday. It’s the one day out of the year that the Sabbath (in the Christian sense) can be forgotten and the gods of the gridiron are worshiped from kickoff ’til the clock expires. Sure, during the National Football League’s regular season there are 17 weeks of play to be witnessed.

ICE HOCKEY

2 games, no winner in weekend series

Columbus - While MSU head coach Ron Mason got the two points he wanted out of a weekend trip to Ohio State, Michigan still sliced the Spartans’ CCHA lead in half.With the Wolverines sweeping Lake Superior State, and MSU and OSU skating to a pair of 3-3 ties, the Spartans’ lead shrunk from four to two points with six CCHA games remaining.“Definitely, it matters,” junior defenseman Brad Fast said.

SPORTS

Womens swimming and diving team ends home schedule with win

The MSU women divers made sure John Narcy, the women’s diving coach, had a successful final home meet. As MSU women’s swimming and diving team closed the regular season with a win over Northern Michigan, 132.5-89.5 on Saturday in East Lansing, his divers achieved their highest scores of the season.

BASKETBALL

Illinois Cook keeps game within reach in first half

Champaign, Ill. - Forward Brian Cook carried No. 12 Illinois against the Spartans in the first half Sunday at Assembly Hall. But after scoring 20 points in that half, the 6-foot-10, 240 -pounderonly scored two points in the second half as MSU (13-8 overall, 4-4) routed the Illini (15-7, 4-5) 67-61.

BASKETBALL

Spartans ready for Illinois

Despite No. 12 Illinois’ two-game losing streak, the MSU men’s basketball team will have its hands full Sunday at Assembly Hall. The Illini (15-6 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) haven’t lost a Big Ten game at home this season, but they are coming off a 78-67 loss to conference leader No.

SPORTS

Sports briefs

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