MSU Quick Hits- March 3, 2009
Submitted by Paul Mercier on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 18:34
BASKETBALL
Tonight becomes an important matchup for the Spartans basketball team for a number of reasons. The obvious is that the team has a chance to wrap-up sole possession of the Big Ten Championship with a win at Indiana. But, looking at the wins, one could argue that closing out the Big Ten, and winning the Big Ten Tournament could shoot the Spartans into a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Now, obviously there are a lot of “if’s” here, and they would need some help in the ACC Tournament, but it’s conceivable.
The Spartans moved up one spot in both of the main polls on Monday, earning them a #8 ranking by the Coaches and the media.
Eric Lacy of the Detroit News reports that Tom Izzo actually has a strong case to receive the Big Ten’s Coach of the Year award- pointing out that MSU leads the nation with “quality wins” despite playing an extremely tough schedule. Lacy’s article can be read here.
Additionally, while the sole focus of most MSU fans has been on the Men’s Basketball team, let’s take a second to reflect on just how well the women have played this year. Second year coach Suzy Merchant has had her team playing well in both of her first two seasons, and the Spartan women finished with a 13-5 record in the conference this year, and earned themselves a #2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Overall, five Spartan women were honored with post-season awards beginning with junior Alyssa DeHaan who took home second-team All Big Ten honors.
HOCKEY
The Montreal Canadiens released a press statement this week that they signed former MSU hockey player, Andrew Conboy, to a three year contract with their minor league team. Conboy, if you recall, was released from the MSU hockey team after an on-ice altercation with a University of Michigan hockey player during a regular season game. No financial specifics were released.
