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Big Ten Basketball Thread

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DFP
Badgers shut down Spartan backcourt en route to convincing win; Neitzel scores just 3

BY SHANNON SHELTON ? FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
February 29, 2008

MADISON, Wis. -- The Spartans executed their game plan against Wisconsin as well as they could have hoped entering Thursday night's matchup at the Kohl Center.
MSU held Wisconsin to 38.8% shooting, outrebounded the Badgers, 37-31, and committed just six turnovers -- although Wisconsin had only one turnover the entire game.
There was one problem. The Spartans' top scorers, Drew Neitzel and Raymar Morgan, just couldn't score.
Without production from that duo, No. 10 Wisconsin was able to do just enough to stay ahead of MSU for most of the game and recorded its sixth consecutive victory over the Spartans in Madison, 57-42.
"If you look at everything else in the game plan, we did a pretty good job, but our two scorers didn't score, and that's what made the difference," said coach Tom Izzo.
No. 19 MSU (22-6, 10-5 Big Ten) led by five points midway through the first half after a scoring flurry from Goran Suton put the Spartans up, 16-11. Suton had one of his best performances of the season, scoring a team-high 14 points and adding 15 rebounds.



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Dispatch

College basketball roundup
Butch, Badgers defeat Spartans

Friday, February 29, 2008 3:19 AM



Associated Press
Brian Butch hit a career-high four three-point baskets last night and 10th-ranked Wisconsin used a late run to shake loose from No. 19 Michigan State for a 57-42 victory in Madison, Wis. It was the fifth straight victory for the Badgers (24-4, 14-2), who moved a half-game ahead of Purdue and Indiana for first place in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin set a school record by committing one turnover, that by Joe Krabbenhoft, earning the junior good-
natured ribbing after the game.
"It's too many," Badgers coach Bo Ryan joked. The Spartans (22-6, 10-5) have lost three of their past five, including three straight on the road.



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MSU looked terrible last night. Neitzel and Morgan certainly did not play the way they are capable of playing and certainly not the way they play when they play us. I will give some credit to Wisconsin's defense but not as much as Brent was giving.

Erin Andrews looked awfully nice last night.:)
 
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Purdue ties Wisconsin for Big Ten lead

March 2, 2008
Associated Press

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Rarely does a coach preach the value of a player who had one field goal in a 25-point victory.
Purdue's Matt Painter gladly did just that for Chris Kramer on Saturday.
The sophomore captain had six steals and three assists, and No. 16 Purdue beat Northwestern 68-43 to move into a tie with Wisconsin for first place in the Big Ten.
Kramer's steals all came in the first half when Purdue couldn't shoot straight. Northwestern led for most of the half, but Purdue finally pulled ahead on a 3-pointer by Marcus Green with 2:13 left that made it 24-23. With the score 24-23, Northwestern had a chance to take the lead at halftime, but Kramer blocked Nikola Baran's 3-point attempt as time expired.

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Pruitt's offense powers Illinois to win at Iowa City

March 2, 2008

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Illinois coach Bruce Weber joked all week about Saturday's Big Ten game against Iowa saying the first team to score 40 points would win. It turned out he was right.

In what's amounted to a long season for a program unaccustomed to losing, the bounces finally went Illinois' way as the Illini beat Iowa 58-47. Shaun Pruitt scored 18 points to lead Illinois and helped the Illini reach the 40 point mark first. He knocked down four quick points to help establish himself in the post and made free throws in a season full of misses. He scored 12 in the first half, including 4-4 from the foul line.

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U-M topped by Penn State
Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? Talor Battle had career highs of 28 points, 13 rebounds and six assists and Mike Walker added 15 points as Penn State withstood Michigan's 3-point shooting barrage in a 69-61 win on Saturday night.
With Battle, Penn State's freshman point guard, on the bench briefly after a hard fall to the floor, Michigan put together a 7-2 run to whittle down an 11-point deficit, capped by Ron Coleman's floater to take a 49-47 lead with 9:49 left.

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DFP
Blowing out Indiana is nice, but it doesn't make up for a blown season

BY DREW SHARP ? FREE PRESS COLUMNIST ? March 3, 2008
EAST LANSING -- It was music to a starving college student's stomach.
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The Michigan State band played "The Taco Song." A local fast-food emporium promises a free taco to all ticket holders in games in which the Spartans score 70 points.
Fans are accustomed to hearing the ditty when there are two minutes remaining in the game -- not with two minutes remaining in the first half!
If a 70-point game earns you a free taco, shouldn't a 70-point first half get you a burrito?
But all the Spartans' flirtation with Mexican cuisine did Sunday was exacerbate the collective heartburn of a season that currently ranks as a stunning underachievement.
Their offensive output showed what these Spartans could be, but it doesn't change what they are right now -- a big disappointment nationally.



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DFP

Spartans dominate Hoosiers thanks to 78% first-half shooting on Senior Day

BY SHANNON SHELTON ? FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER ? March 3, 2008
EAST LANSING -- Drew Neitzel wanted his final game at the Breslin Center to be memorable.
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Because of his effort -- and that of pretty much every player on the Spartans' roster -- March 2 won't be a date that Michigan State fans will soon forget.
Sunday's game reminded some of 2000, when the soon-to-be national champions throttled Michigan, 114-63, on Senior Day. Eight years later, Michigan State dismantled an Indiana team in contention for a Big Ten championship, steamrolling the Hoosiers, 103-74.
Before the game, the MSU athletics department honored Neitzel and fellow senior Drew Naymick for their years of service to the Spartan basketball team. Neitzel attempted to hold back tears as he watched a video montage of his greatest moments at MSU, then composed himself as he prepared for tip-off.



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Michigan State routs Indiana

Monday, March 3, 2008 3:04 AM



Associated Press
Indiana crumbled a little more than a week after a tumultuous transition, and Dan Dakich took it personally. Raymar Morgan scored 12 of his 20 points early to help No. 19 Michigan State build a big lead that helped it beat the 12th-ranked Hoosiers 103-74 yesterday in a Big Ten game in East Lansing, Mich., allowing the Spartans to finish undefeated (17-0) at home and handing Dakich his first loss as interim coach.
"They played great and we did not and that's my fault," Dakich said. "If I'm going to be the guy that everybody pats on the back when things go well, then I'm going to be the guy that accepts it when things don't."
Indiana (24-5, 13-3) won its first two games with Dakich in charge following Kelvin Sampson's resignation amid allegations of NCAA rule infractions.



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College basketball roundup: Late run fuels Indiana victory
Gordon sparks decisive spurt
Thursday, March 6, 2008 3:11 AM



Associated Press
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DARRON CUMMINGS AP
Minnesota's Dan Coleman, left, and Indiana's D.J. White vie for a first-half rebound.



Eric Gordon scored nine of his 20 points during a decisive late run last night in Bloomington, Ind., leading No. 18 Indiana past Minnesota 69-55 in D.J. White's final home game.
It also might have marked the final home appearances for interim coach Dan Dakich and Gordon, a freshman who is expected to leave for the NBA after this season.

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No. 10 Wisconsin 77, Penn State 41 -- Marcus Landry scored 15 points and Wisconsin (25-4, 15-2) trounced visiting Penn State (14-15, 6-11) to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
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College basketball roundup: Penn State upends Indiana 68-64

Monday, March 10, 2008 2:48 AM




One of the best freshmen in the country was outperformed by a band of less-heralded first-year players. After overcoming No. 18 Indiana and guard Eric Gordon's 26 points, maybe more people will start noticing the fresh faces at Penn State, too.
Freshman David Jackson tied the score in regulation with a three-point play and hit a decisive bucket in overtime, and fellow freshman Talor Battle made up for a 2-of-15 shooting performance from the field with key late free throws to help Penn State defeat Indiana 68-64 yesterday in State College, Pa.
"I just try to have fun," said Battle, who made three of Penn State's final four free throws in the final 22 seconds of overtime. "The more tight you get and tense you get, that just makes the game that much harder."



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