The Spartans and the Fighting Illini both shot 42% from the floor Thursday night. Where Michigan State had seven turnovers, Illinois had eight. Where Michigan State had 37 rebounds, Illinois had 34. Pretty much everything on paper Thursday in Champaign looked nearly identical—until you looked at the free-throw column.
The Michigan State men’s basketball team will get back on the road Thursday to take on No. 10 Illinois after its tough 88-74 loss to Northwestern Sunday night.
To kick off the new year, the Michigan State men’s basketball team dominated the Penn State Nittany Lions 92-61 for both teams’ third Big Ten matchup of the season.
The Spartan squad dished out 33 assists on 38 made field goals on the night headlined by ten assists each from senior guard A.J. Hoggard and freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr.. Prior to the matchup against the Seawolves, Fears had logged a career-high five assists in the Nov. 19 game against Alcorn State—now that number is doubled.
MSU will take on the University of Evansville in its fourth and final game at the Breslin Center before they hit the road for the first time of the season. The Spartans and the Aces have a short history with each other only playing once before. The Spartans have control of the only win of that series after defeating the Aces 73-53 in their previous meeting.
The Spartan defense contributed a big part today in the win over Butler. Carson Cooper also had a good defensive performance in his first career start for MSU.
The No. 18 Michigan State men’s basketball team fell to No. 9 Duke 74-65 during what was yet another sluggish offensive performance—although better than during the first two games of the season.
After a tough opening night loss to James Madison, the Michigan State men’s basketball team found a way to win its first game of the season. Following the loss to JMU, head coach Tom Izzo admitted he was disappointed with some of the leaders in the starting lineup and could potentially look into some changes in the lineups in the games following.
Sometimes teams just have an off-night, and that seems to be precisely what happened to the Michigan State men’s basketball team during its 79-76 season opener loss against James Madison. The Spartans shot a combined 62.2% from the free throw and just 5.0% from the three.
When Michigan State University basketball player Mady Sissoko left his home of Tangafoya, Mali at 15 years old to play basketball in the United States, he knew he wanted to eventually give back to the people in his village. Seven years later, Sissoko started the Mady Sissoko Foundation School, helping hundreds of children gain accessible education.
Michigan State will be back in action Dec. 21 against Oakland.
Michigan State is no longer ranked following losses to Notre Dame and Northwestern.
MSU had every opportunity to fight its way to victory, but nobody was willing, or able, to take over the game.
Michigan State and Gonzaga are both juggling the balance between focusing on the game and also relishing in the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The backcourt for the Spartans suddenly finds itself loaded with talent in returning sophomore DeeDee Hagemann, sophomore guard Matilda Ekh, senior guard Moira Joiner and the transfers arriving in East Lansing.
Throughout his extensive career, Garland helped lead the Spartans to the 2000 National Championship, seven Final Fours, 20 NCAA Tournament appearances, six Big Ten Tournament Championships and 10 Big Ten Regular Season titles. Garland also coached 18 Spartans who were drafted into the NBA, with six players selected from 2000-02.
Thomas Kelley is "back with his Spartan family" as an assistant coach for MSU's men's basketball team.
The staple of Tom Izzo’s tenure as Michigan State's head coach has been stability, but MSU was forced to make changes to the coaching staff with assistant coach Dane Fife leaving to join his alma mater, Indiana.
Here are three takes from MSU's win over Central Michigan.
Kayla Belles is leaving the women's basketball program.