yyys123
Joined: 08 Jul 2019
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 Posted: 22.02.2009 Post subject: Appling snuffed it out with a long 3 |
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| CHAMAPIGN, Ill. -- Coming to Illinois on Saturday, a long list of milestones were on the line for Michigan State. Best start in team history. A chance for Tom Izzo to move up the ladder of Big Ten coaching wins. And, oh yeah, the top spot in the conference standings to protect. The Spartans (17-1, 6-0 Big Ten) checked off all those boxes, holding off Illinois in a sometimes frustrating, physical contest, 78-62. Izzo, who moved past Illinois Lou Henson and into the No. 4 spot on the list of all-time Big Ten wins with 215, called the victory a sign of progress. "Were getting there," he said. "Were gutting things out. Were better defensively than we were a month ago, were better rebounding than we were a month ago." No Spartans team before this one started with 17 wins in its first 18 games. The shot at that served as motivation, said Denzel Valentine, who had a game-high 11 rebounds and 15 points. "We kept saying, Lets make history," he said. While Michigan State won its 10th straight, Illinois (13-6, 2-4) has now lost four in a row. The frustration was apparent during several loud exchanges between coach John Groce and officials. The last one earned him a technical foul. But Groce said Michigan State was just better. "Todays issue wasnt fight; todays issue was we ran into a really, really good basketball team," he said. Izzo said he talked with Henson, who was at the State Farm Center, before the game, but downplayed moving into the No. 4 spot. Bob Knight holds the No. 1 spot with 353. "Its nice," Izzo said. "Im going to call Bob and make sure he realizes theres no worries. Nobodys catching him." Michigan State owned the boards early against the Illini, outrebounding them 24-10 over the first 20 minutes. The Spartans used that edge to open up a 10-point lead by halftime and held the Illini at arms length the rest of the night. Gary Harris had a game-high 23 points and Keith Appling added 15 for the Spartans. Tracy Abrams led Illinois with 15 points. Illinois closed to within six at 59-53 with 6:11 in the game on a pair of free throws by Abrams. But almost as quick as those shots sparked a little hope for Illinois, Appling snuffed it out with a long 3-pointer from the top of the arc. "For whatever reason, we fell down in the zone," Groce said. "Appling made a big shot." Michigan was up 62-53 with 5:43 to play, and with the Illini shooting a tepid 37.7 per cent and unable to drum up many second chances, Michigan was comfortably out front. The Spartans played without 6-10 centre Adreian Payne, out for a third consecutive game with an ankle injury. But against an Illinois team with little inside presence, they didnt seem to need him. "We learned to play without him," Harris said. "Some other guys stepped up. Were building a deeper team." Michigan State outrebounded Illinois 38-25. Valentine was at times dominant, particularly in the first half. He had nine rebounds by halftime and held Rice to 12 points. Rice entered as the conferences second-leading scorer, averaging 17.7 points a game. The Spartans also made the most of their shots, sinking 55.8 per cent of them. Illini big men Nnanna Egwu and Maverick Morgan had a combined five rebounds and four points. Egwu hasnt scored in his past two games in spite of starting both and playing 55 minutes. Groces frustration has been growing with the losing streak. After Wednesdays loss to Purdue he charged toward officials to complain about calls. Early in the first half Saturday night, he shouted across the court at his own team after a miss, "I didnt want that!" He then turned and slammed his fist into the scorers table in front of the Illinois radio crew. Late in the game, after several confrontations with officials, he threw his suit jacket and was called for a technical foul. Groce declined to discuss his exchanges with officials or their calls, but both he and Izzo said they believe there are problems with how rule changes designed to increase scoring are being called. "In my opinion, its completely different than maybe what I saw on the (NCAA) video that was sent to me in the fall," Groce said. "I think everybodys confused," Izzo added. "Its hard on everybody." Illinois has a tough road ahead with its next four at No. 11 Ohio State, at Indiana and then at home against No. 14 Iowa and No. 3 Wisconsin. The Spartans play their next two at home, Tuesday against Indiana and Jan. 25 against Michigan. Fake NBA Jerseys Sale .Inter Milan and Napoli also advanced to ensure there will be at least three Italian clubs in the last 32 of Europes secondary competition.Spurs victory, secured by Benjamin Stamboulis 49th-minute winner, was overshadowed by a succession of pitch invasions that forced the referee to halt the game after 41 minutes. Wholesale Fake NBA Jerseys . -- DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and 16 rebounds to help the Sacramento Kings snap a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Chicago Bulls 99-70 on Monday night. http://www.fakenbajerseys.com/ . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said. Fake NBA Jerseys 2019 . This time, it was Eric Chavezs turn. Stuck in a rut since coming off the disabled list, Chavez hit the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning for a run-scoring single, sending the Diamondbacks to another walk-off victory, 4-3 over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night. Discount Fake NBA Jerseys . His second visit, not so much. Roark (7-5) allowed four runs on 10 hits and one walk over six innings in a 7-2 setback in front of several friends and family members, as the Cubs snapped his personal streak of four consecutive victories on Friday.With two pre-season games remaining for the Habs, Michel Therrien will use this opportunity to make his final evaluation of his team. The Habs play a home-and-home series against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday and Thursday. Therrien plans to dress a younger line-up on Wednesday in Ottawa. "We want to see some of our young players in another game and after that, well have to make decisions," Therrien said on Tuesday. But the coach would not say when the next round of cuts will come. Canadiens captain Brian Gionta will play in his first pre-season game on Thursday at the Bell Centre, most likely on a line witth Rene Bourque and Tomas Plekanec.dddddddddddd. Dont count on seeing George Parros or Douglas Murray this pre-season, as both are listed as doubtful and Parros is still a question mark for the season opener on October 1 against Toronto. Lines from Tuesdays practice: Bourque - Plekanec - GiontaPacioretty - Desharnais - BriereGalchenyuk - Eller - GallagherMoen - Bournival - WhiteParros - Holland - Blunden Gorges - SubbanMarkov - DiazTinordi - BouillonBeaulieu - Dietz Brandon Prust took a therapy day on Tuesday and was not at practice. Peter Budaj will start in goal against Ottawa on Wednesday. ' ' ' |
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