Michigan State

Kelli Roehrig had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Michigan State earned at least a share of the program's second Big Ten title with a 77-34 win over Michigan in its regular-season finale last night in East Lansing, Mich. The No. 6 Spartans (25-3, 14-2 Big Ten) can earn their first outright conference championship if Ohio State (12-2 Big Ten) loses at Purdue, then beats visiting Penn State (13-2 Big Ten) Sunday. Roehrig and fellow senior Kristin Haynie were honored before their final home game and Michigan State ended its regular season with nine straight wins and a 13-0 mark at home.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says it's tough to feel good or bad. The Spartans started the season unranked, then accomplished enough to be a top-seeded team in the NCAA tournament. They advanced to the round of 16 for the 10th time in 15 years, but ended with perhaps their worst performance of the season. Louisville sent Michigan State home with a 57-44 win Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals. The Spartans will have to figure out a way to create success next season without Draymond Green, Austin Thornton and Brandon Wood.

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Michigan State withstood a late-game scoring drought by holding Kentucky scoreless for more than five minutes, and the fourth-seeded Spartans beat the Wildcats, 67-63, last night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State, last season's national runner-up, plays the winner of tonight's Duke-Southern Cal game in the round of 16 in Bridgeport, Conn., Sunday. Aisha Jefferson led Michigan State with 16 points -- 14 in the first half -- and Liz Shimek scored 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting after scoring 27 points in the opening round against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

PHOENIX - Louisville figured its game against Michigan State to be low-scoring, a natural expectation with two of the nation's best defenses butting heads. The Cardinals had one big advantage: Gorgui Dieng. Dominating inside, Dieng blocked seven shots and altered several others to anchor a stifling defense that helped Louisville knock off top-seeded Michigan State, 57-44, Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals. "He was very disruptive," Michigan State's Draymond Green said.

PHOENIX — Gorgui Dieng swatted away the West Region's top seed to send Rick Pitino into another regional final. Chane Behanan scored 15 points and Dieng anchored Louisville's stifling defense with seven blocked shots, helping the Cardinals knock off top-seeded Michigan State 57-44 Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals. Louisville (29-9) smothered the NCAA tournament's best-shooting team with its matchup zone, getting good pressure from its guards up top and some big swats by Dieng, one of the nation's top shot-blockers.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says it's tough to feel good or bad. The Spartans started the season unranked, then accomplished enough to be a top-seeded team in the NCAA tournament. They advanced to the round of 16 for the 10th time in 15 years, but ended with perhaps their worst performance of the season. Louisville sent Michigan State home with a 57-44 win Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals. The Spartans will have to figure out a way to create success next season without Draymond Green, Austin Thornton and Brandon Wood.

Michigan State standout freshman Branden Dawson is out for the rest of the season after injuring his left knee against Ohio State. Dawson limped off the court with 10:16 left in the first half of Sunday's 72-70 loss to the 10th-ranked Buckeyes, which left the No. 5 Spartans in a three-way tie for the Big Ten title with Ohio State and Michigan. Dawson was evaluated briefly on the bench, where he rubbed his left knee while his leg was propped up on a chair. Later, he walked gingerly to the locker room.

Michigan State started the season unranked and will end it as the No. 1 seed in the West Region, hoping for another Tom Izzo-led NCAA tournament run. The Spartans will begin close to home, playing Friday in Columbus, Ohio, against 16th-seeded Long Island University-Brooklyn. If they avoid an upset, the winner of the Memphis-Saint Louis awaits in the next game. The West semifinals will be played in Phoenix, where Michigan State might be joined by No. 2 Missouri, third-seeded Marquette and No. 4 Louisville with one team earning a trip to the Final Four in New Orleans.

John Shurna scored 22 points and Northwestern beat No. 6 Michigan State 81-74 on Saturday, ending the Spartans' 15-game winning streak Drew Crawford added 20 points and Davide Curletti, making his first start of the season, had a season-high 17 for the Wildcats (12-5, 2-3 Big Ten), who rebounded from a tough overtime loss at Michigan three days ago. Michigan State (15-3, 4-1) lost for the first time since it was beaten by Duke in Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15. Keith Appling led the Spartans with 17 points and Draymond Green had 14 points and 14...

Klarissa Bell scored 19 points to pace Michigan State to its third straight victory with a 73-53 decision over No. 23 Nebraska on Thursday night. Taylor Alton hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points for the Spartans (18-10, 10-5 Big Ten), who shot 52 percent (29 of 56) and went 9 of 18 from long range. Porsche Poole added 13 points and nine assists. Jordan Hooper continued her streak of hitting double figures in every game this season as she led the Cornhuskers (20-7, 9-6)

Louisville figured its game against Michigan State to be low-scoring, a natural expectation with two of the nation's best defenses butting heads. The Cardinals had one big advantage: Gorgui Dieng. Dominating inside, Dieng blocked seven shots and altered several others to anchor a stifling defense that helped Louisville knock off top-seeded Michigan State 57-44 Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals. ""He was very disruptive," Michigan State's Draymond Green said.

Michigan State's guards struggled with Louisville's pressure and the big men had a hard time getting shots to fall. Everyone had trouble with Gorgui Dieng. Dieng blocked seven shots and top-seeded Michigan State had more turnovers than field goals in a 57-44 loss to Louisville in the West Regional Thursday night. "We just missed some shots that we have hit (in the past)," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "But I also thought they disrupted us a little bit and we just didn't have enough guys that could play well.

Troy Grosenick made 20 saves and Union won its first Division I hockey tournament game, beating Michigan State 3-1 in the first round of the East Regional on Friday. The top-seeded Dutchmen (25-7-7) scored in each of the first two periods for a 2-0 lead, and Grosenick took care of the rest. Union advanced to play Saturday night against No. 3 seed UMass-Lowell, which beat Miami (Ohio) 4-3 in overtime. The winner of that game moves on to the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla. "Our team has been awesome in front of the net all year," Grosenick...

When did the Rust Belt suddenly turn into Tobacco Road? When did the glamour and glitter of this college basketball season, which has been dominated by Kentucky, Syracuse, and North Carolina, suddenly turn into a blue-collar event? We might have a Final Four with Kansas, Michigan State, Syracuse, and North Carolina, all No. 1 seeds, just like in 2008, when the No. 1 seeds - North Carolina, Kansas, Memphis, and UCLA- all made it to the final weekend in San Antonio. But that Final Four had some geographical diversity.

The sweet moment Brian Conklin had imagined, the one where he and his teammates danced around the floor in celebration, was now washed away by tears. After Saint Louis' season ended with a loss to Michigan State, Conklin, who was part of coach Rick Majerus' first recruiting class with the Billikens, couldn't control his emotions as he broke down and wept. For all its joy, March can be equally cruel. The Billikens, executing Majerus' game plan of slowing down the Spartans to perfection, gave the top seed all it could handle Sunday before falling 65-61 in the...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - With Michigan State's season in peril, Draymond Green turned to teammate Keith Appling during a timeout and told him to be ready. His moment was near. And when it arrived, Appling delivered. His shot, the one Green urged him to take, helped save the Spartans. Appling's critical 3-pointer with 1:34 left, a 20-foot jumper set up by Green's drive and marvelous pass, gave Michigan State a 65-61 win Sunday over Saint Louis and thrust the top-seeded Spartans into the Round of 16 after they survived a tug-of-war with the scrappy Billikens.

Porsche Poole scored a career-high 32 points and Michigan State rallied to beat No. 18 Penn State 83-77 on Sunday. Following a 28-point effort in a loss to Illinois, Poole was 10-for-15 from the field, including hitting three 3-pointers, for the Spartans (13-9, 5-4 Big Ten). She also had six rebounds, six assists and three steals. The win ended a three-game skid for Michigan State and completed a sweep of the Nittany Lions (16-5, 6-3). The Spartans jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead and won 75-65 on Jan. 7. It was much tougher this time in a game neither team led by...

Jeff Walz returned to College Park, his booming voice rising above the whistles, cheerleaders, the fans and maybe everything except the bands. He even was coaching a team in red, just as he did when he was on the bench as a Maryland assistant. The result was familiar as well. Walz led seventh-seeded Louisville to a 67-55 victory over 10th-seeded Michigan State on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA women's tournament. Now comes an intriguing rematch. Walz will face his old boss, Brenda Frese, when Louisville and Maryland play in the second round Monday night.