The Michigan State men’s basketball team’s run as the AP No. 1 team was short lived. After losing to then-No. 2 Kentucky in the Champions Classic, the Spartans have slipped to No 3 in the latest AP poll. Kentucky-not a surprise-took over as the new …
The Michigan State men’s basketball team’s run as the AP No. 1 team was short lived.
After losing to then-No. 2 Kentucky in the Champions Classic, the Spartans have slipped to No 3 in the latest AP poll. Kentucky–not a surprise–took over as the new No. 1 team with Duke also jumping the Spartans into the No. 2 spot.
Louisville and Kansas round out the top five.
Michigan State rebounded from the Kentucky loss with an emotional win over Binghamton the day after Cassius Winston’s brother Zachary was killed after being hit by a train.
The Spartans will now travel to take on No. 12 Seton Hall this Thursday in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
Wil and Matt recap the crazy sports weekend that was in East Lansing
Wil Hunter and Matt Sheehan talk about the emotional night in the Breslin Center and how amazed they are by Cassius Winston. Then they discuss the epic collapse from MSU football, how Mark Dantonio’s post game comments weren’t good enough and play a game of “take thermometer.”
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It was a typical early season basketball game — Michigan State easily beat an outmatched Binghamton — suddenly imbued with emotion. Winston and his head coach, Tom Izzo, fought back tears during a moment of silence. Big Ten Network’s cameras captured Cassius and his youngest brother, Khy (a teammate of Zachary’s at Division III Albion), embracing courtside before the game.
I’m not here to tell you that basketball helped heal a hurting soul last night. Or even that Cassius Winston and his family were buoyed by the love and support of the Michigan State team and fans. I can’t fathom what they’re going through or how they’re feeling. A 19-year old apparently choosing to end his own life leaves behind questions that will forever be unanswered. It stirs pain that none of us could come close to comprehending. Thinking about that level of grief absolutely crushes me.
Yet I certainly saw the way that the game helped Cassius, probably the best point guard in college basketball, find his way. If only for a few moments. Going through the routines, hearing the thud of basketballs and the screech of fresh Nikes cutting on hardwood … I’m guessing that brought him about as close to his brother as he could get.
Steve Kerr played basketball after his father, Malcolm, was assassinated by a terrorist in Lebanon. I spoke to some of his teammates about the night they were awakened by the news, and they all recalled how chaotic it felt. Kerr was a freshman at Arizona then, sitting in his dorm room, with players and coaches coming and going. It was, in fact, eerily calm in so many ways — except that nobody felt normal about anything. Until they got on the court again.
When I got word earlier this year that my father had died, after a life wracked by alcoholism and mental illness, I was throwing ground balls to a line of rambunctious 5- and 6-year olds on a small field tucked behind an elementary school. They mostly played in the dirt, or chased each other, as I exhorted them to get their gloves down. To step and throw. To get to the back of the line and cheer on your teammate.
A call came to my phone and I stepped away to hear the news. I couldn’t think of what to do next, so I returned to what I’d been doing. My father and I weren’t particularly close but he would, when I inevitably begged on most afternoons, have a catch. He would tell me to get my glove all the way down, to point my toe where I wanted the ball to go, to calm down and not rush. Those words filled my head, and I did my best to share them.
That was peace. Fleeting, but meaningful. I hope Winston can find it, too, in the days, weeks and months ahead.
The Ravens have the Texans and Rams to get through before hosting San Francisco on Dec. 1, but it’s hard not to look ahead to that game. The Niners defense, according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA, is in a stratosphere along with the Patriots far above the rest of the league (New England is at -33.9, San Fran is at -31.4 and the Broncos, Rams and Steelers are next at …. -8.8.) Should be fun.
Quick hits: Do the Dak! … Enough Don Cherry … Denny Hamlin gets another shot … A Michael Jordan gambling and drinking story
—Penny Hardaway doesn’t need college basketball … which is why he might be the biggest threat to college basketball. Memphis’ decision to defy the NCAA and go to court could change everything.
