MSU fights back to beat Iowa; CMU enters MAC Finals

The #3 Michigan State Spartans prevailed, 59-56, against the #6 Iowa Hawkeyes in the quarterfinals of the BIg Ten tournament, after trailing for most of the night and by 12 with less than 12 minutes to play. The Spartans used an overwhelming 24-4 run to take a 57-49 lead, which ultimately lead to MSU's victory.

Adreian Payne led MSU with 18 points & 10 rebounds, and Gary Harris & Keith Appling both rebounded from rough first halves to lead the Spartans in the second. Both scored 13 – both with 11 in the second half.

Now the Spartans must regroup for Saturday night's encounter against the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. Game time is set to begin after 4 pm when the other seimfinal game between #1 Indiana & #4 Wisconsin conclude.




With strong defense, the #4 Central Michigan Chippewas advanced to the women's Mid-American Conference Championship game by defeating the #1 Toledo Rockets at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH, 66-61. With the win, CMU will play the #3 Akron Zips this Saturday afternoon at 1 pm for a chance to earn an automatic bid the NCAA Tournament.

Even though the Michigan State men & the Central Micihgan women were the bright side of the day, there were those who were burned in conference tournament play Friday. The #4 Detroit Titan women were eliminated in the Horizon League semifinals by #1 Green Bay, 71-54. The Titans are still hopeful for an invitation to the WNIT. The #5 MIchigan men suffered a a big loss to the #4 Wisconsin Badgers, 68-59, in the Big Ten quarterfinals, but due to their high ranking, they will enter the NCAA Tournament. And as for the #3 Western Michigan men, they lost to #2 Ohio in the MAC semifinals. The Broncos can only hope they make it to the NIT.