In a sea of burnt orange T-shirts and hats, every so often refreshing waves of green would splash onto the humid streets of Houston.
As the clock wound down on MSU’s Sweet 16 loss to Memphis and its season, Tom Izzo took a glimpse into the future. The MSU head coach rotated freshmen guards Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen and Durrell Summers in with sophomore forward Raymar Morgan, junior center Goran Suton and junior guard Travis Walton as seniors Drew Naymick and Drew Neitzel said their goodbyes.
After dropping both games of a doubleheader to Illinois on Saturday, MSU baseball coach David Grewe declared Sunday’s twin bill against the Illini as “Survival Sunday.”
Early on, it was more of a slam-dunk contest than a basketball game, and unfortunately for the MSU men’s basketball team, they weren’t invited to the aerial circus.
Somebody had her Wheaties. Senior outfielder Nikki Nicosia tallied a hat trick of home runs, and freshman shortstop Bianca Mejia blasted two out of the park in Sunday’s doubleheader against Wisconsin.
It was all about having fun at Saturday’s Big Ten Tournament for the MSU gymnastics team. This was not the same team that showed up to last year’s tournament and left empty-handed with a dead-last, seventh-place finish.
An impromptu Notre Dame victory celebration was well under way Saturday as Bryan Lerg and Chris Mueller stood in the bowels of World Arena following MSU’s 3-1 loss to Notre Dame.
Colorado Springs, Colo. — In the NCAA Tournament projections, it looked like if MSU was going to play a CCHA team with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line, it would be Michigan. Instead, MSU will be facing Notre Dame, a team fresh off an upset of No. 1 seed New Hampshire, at 10 p.m. Saturday.
Colorado Springs, Colo. — In seven career NCAA Tournament games, junior goaltender Jeff Lerg has allowed only 11 goals. Take out the five he allowed against Maine in 2006, MSU’s only NCAA Tournament loss in the last three seasons, and the number becomes staggering – six goals in six games.
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Six-thousand feet and 6,000 screaming fans didn’t bother the MSU hockey team one bit. With three second period goals, the No. 3 seed Spartans stopped highly-favored Colorado College, 3-1, in the NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinal Friday night at World Arena.
Houston – Like a flash, it was gone. The Spartans were dismantled in the first 20 minutes of their NCAA Tournament regional semifinal against Memphis in Houston on Friday, and found themselves in a hole they couldn’t climb out of – eventually losing, 92-74. MSU was picked apart like they hadn’t been all season in a first half that likened itself to a 16-seed versus a one-seed rather than a 5-seed picked to have a chance at upsetting a top team in the country.
The defending national champions aren’t supposed to be a large underdog entering the NCAA Tournament.But considering the circumstances surrounding the MSU hockey team’s West Regional semifinal game against Colorado College tonight, it’s difficult to call the Spartans a favorite. First, there’s what should be a raucous crowd at World Arena, where the host Tigers are 18-2-0 this season. Add in an Olympic-size ice sheet and elevation in excess of 6,000 feet and the odds seemed to be stacked against the Spartans.
At 7 a.m. Monday morning, junior guard Travis Walton busted into roommate junior center Goran Suton’s bedroom with his butt down, head up, on the balls of his feet — chopping his legs back and forth to symbolize his defensive stance.
The MSU hockey team has a tall task ahead as it faces Colorado College at 10 p.m. tonight in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional semifinal at World Arena.
For all that has been said about Tom Izzo’s basketball teams playing like football players and his notorious “war drill” that features football pads, it’s only appropriate that the Spartans will play their Sweet 16 game in a football stadium this weekend.
Despite an injury and two straight losses, the MSU gymnastics team is optimistic about Saturday’s Big Ten Tournament in Ann Arbor.
Mother Nature won’t be very nice to the MSU softball team this weekend in its home opener, but that doesn’t bother the players. A chilly, rainy and snowy weekend is forecast throughout the team’s Friday and Saturday series against Minnesota and double-header against Wisconsin on Sunday.
It may not be the national championship they originally wanted, but it’s the one they are on track to receive.
The State News caught up with freshman guard Brittney Thomas to find out how she got involved with basketball and what she’s like off the court.
With three spring practices down and 12 to go, the message from football head coach Mark Dantonio to his players is simple — “We’ve got to get better.”