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Michigan State pushes win streak to 13 with rout of Minnesota

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Michigan State pushes win streak to 13 with rout of Minnesota


East Lansing — Tom Izzo slammed his fists on the scorer’s table.

Why? Even though his Michigan State men’s basketball team was up double-digits on Minnesota — even though 18-2 overall and 9-0 in the Big Ten were all but expected after taking a 20-point lead to halftime, Izzo’s team came out sloppy to start the second half. A Tre Holloman turnover came off an ill-advised pass. And Izzo was frustrated. That’s how good things are at Breslin Center these days, where Izzo can nitpick fine details in a burgeoning blowout.

Michigan State won big against Minnesota on Tuesday, 73-51, in a game that saw its transition game execute to a sloppy but lethal effect. The Spartans extended their win streak to 13 in their second win over the Gophers this season.

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BOX SCORE: Michigan State 73, Minnesota 51

Twelve points from Holloman led Michigan State in the win, while nine players scored at least five points. Ten rebounds from center Carson Cooper aided a 40-22 team advantage on the glass. Jase Richardson led the game with eight assists, part of 20 helpers on 25 Michigan State makes. Minnesota star Dawson Garcia scored a game-high 21 points on 16 shots.

A fast-paced attack powered Michigan State to a 36-16 first-half lead, but it came with costs. Some of its 31 shots came at breakneck speed, challenging the Spartans’ focus on the finish. Some usually-made shots missed the mark and meant that the pace of scoring didn’t reflect the pace of play.

Such pace flustered Minnesota (11-9, 3-6 Big Ten) even more. It struggled to keep pace with Michigan State, often sprinting back to defend almost as soon as it released a shot. Eleven turnovers in the first half didn’t make things any easier. And three of those came on shot clock violations as a rowdy Breslin Center roared. As the Spartans took a 16-6 halfway through the first half, the guards kept pushing the pace as Minnesota looked more and more tired.

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Meanwhile, that crowd only got louder. Once Michigan State settled into a rhythm offensively, it rattled off a 13-0 run that included three straight makes from Holloman. As the Minneapolis-born guard made the shots in succession, the crowd got louder and louder until it exploded at its loudest for his steal that sprung Richardson in transition. Richardson’s free throws bookended the run, which keyed a game-high 22-point lead.

Michigan State came out of halftime up big, and it played like it. Sloppy defense and poor passing helped Minnesota to trim the lead down to 15. Holloman made that ill-advised pass that so frustrated Izzo. It didn’t take long before the Spartans were back up 22 points. 

Izzo expects more from his group, and some of those areas shined in Tuesday’s win. The transition game put up 17 points. The Spartans hauled in 13 offensive rebounds, including five from Cooper. And those Holloman threes? They showed rhythm to one of Michigan State’s few true weaknesses this season.

But the sloppy details are just as pressing, especially to Izzo. Michigan State made mistakes that drive him crazy, like when Frankie Fidler cost a score due to basket interference halfway through the second half. Point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. missed free throws. The Spartans fell a step behind defensively on some possessions.

Those mistakes didn’t sink Michigan State by any stretch of the imagination, but they did whittle the lead to 13 points off a Garcia three with 7:27 left. But the fact that the game didn’t come any closer down the stretch was a privilege borne from that dominant close to the first half. By 5:17, that lead ballooned right back to 20 points as Coen Carr dunked over top of forward Parker Fox. 

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The oohs of the crowd and the bang of Izzo’s fists showed both sides to the win. The highlight dunks and back-to-back-to-back threes showed the highs of the game, while the executional mistakes showed the room left for Michigan State to grow.

At 18-2 and 9-0 in conference play, Michigan State matches its best start since 2018-19. That season also saw a 13-game win streak power such a strong record, followed by a three-game losing streak.

Michigan State’s next game will come on a two-game trip to California. Saturday, the Spartans take on USC, and Tuesday features a matchup against UCLA, where Izzo could pass Bobby Knight for the most Big Ten wins in conference history at 353.

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

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Urban Meyer reacts to Sherrone Moore scandal after coach’s shock Michigan firing

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Urban Meyer reacts to Sherrone Moore scandal after coach’s shock Michigan firing


One of the best college football coaches of all time, Urban Meyer, lent some sympathy to Sherrone Moore — or at least his family — in the wake of the former Michigan head coach’s shocking firing last week. 

“Last night, I said a prayer for that family,’’ Meyer said on “The Triple Option Podcast,” speaking of Moore’s wife and daughters. 

“I mean, you’ve got three little girls,’’ said Meyer, who won a national title at Ohio State a little over a decade ago. “You’ve got a guy that was on top of the road a week ago.”

Urban Meyer reacted to the fallout of Sherrone Moore’s shock firing from Michigan. Getty Images
The former Michigan football coach was fired for cause after the university confirmed he had an inappropriate relationship with a. staffer. AP

That changed in stunning fashion, as Moore, a married father of three, went from leading the Wolverines to out of a job, fired in Ann Arbor for cause after the university confirmed he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

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The situation only worsened when Moore was later arrested after he allegedly broke into the home of the staff member, and during an argument, grabbed butter knives and threatened to kill himself.

Sherrone Moore was charged on Friday with third-degree home invasion, a felony, as well as a pair of misdemeanors. AP

On Friday, he was charged with third-degree home invasion, a felony, as well as a pair of misdemeanors — stalking and breaking and entering.


Here’s the latest on former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore


Even Meyer, who created some controversy of his own during a brief, ill-fated tenure as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars — when he was seen on video in 2021 that showed him dancing suggestively with a woman who was not his wife and was later fired before finishing his lone season in Jacksonville — was stunned by Moore’s downfall.

“They’re up 6-0 on the Buckeyes at home,” Meyer said of Michigan’s early lead against rival Ohio State on Nov. 29. “And then, also, you wake up, and they’re in this situation. Rivalries aside, this is all human element. Now, this is something that, from what you read, that’s some serious stuff that went on. And just, all of a sudden, you start seeing the impact. Forget football. Who cares about football?’’

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Yaxel Lendeborg scores 29 points and No. 2 Michigan stays unbeaten with 101-83 win over Maryland

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Yaxel Lendeborg scores 29 points and No. 2 Michigan stays unbeaten with 101-83 win over Maryland


COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg had 29 points, a career-best nine assists and eight rebounds, and No. 2 Michigan rallied from a nine-point deficit Saturday night to defeat Maryland 101-83.

Aday Mara scored 18 points for the Wolverines (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten), who overcame a halftime deficit for the second time this season and the first since they beat TCU on Nov. 14.

Michigan scored 100 points for the fourth time in five games.

Diggy Coit made eight 3-pointers and scored 31 points for the Terrapins (6-5, 0-2), who lost center Pharrel Payne to a right leg injury late in the first half and forward Solomon Washington to ejection after he picked up his second technical foul early in the second half.

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Coit scored nine of Maryland’s first 10 points and 22 before the break, helping to prevent Michigan from opening a lead larger than six in the first half.

The Terps lost Payne, their leading scorer at 18.7 points a game, with 4:36 remaining before halftime. Yet Maryland stretched its lead from one to 50-45 at the midpoint, then expanded it to 56-47 on Elijah Saunders’ 3.

Washington, who had a first-half technical for celebrating a 3 in front of the Michigan bench, was called for a delay-of-game technical just after Saunders’ basket. His departure left the Terps without their two most experienced and imposing interior players.

Lendeborg took advantage, scoring the next eight points. Mara’s dunk with 14 minutes left made it 64-63 and gave the Wolverines the lead for good.

Elliot Cadeau’s layup with 21.2 seconds remaining got the Wolverines to 100 points for the fifth time this season.

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Up next

Michigan hosts La Salle on Dec. 21.

Maryland visits No. 24 Virginia on Dec. 20.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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Aquinas College expands automatic acceptance to 2 more West Michigan high schools

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Aquinas College expands automatic acceptance to 2 more West Michigan high schools


GRAND RAPIDS, MI – After beginning a direct admittance program at one West Michigan high school in November, Aquinas College has now expanded the program to cover more classrooms.

The guaranteed admission program, first implemented for graduates of West Catholic High School with a 2.0 GPA or above, has now been expanded to Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids and Muskegon Catholic Central High School.

The partnership will apply to students from all three schools entering college in the fall of 2026.

The direct admission program was described by Aquinas College leaders as offering high school students a “clear path to college success” while also continuing to develop partnerships.

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Aquinas College, a private Catholic liberal arts institution located at 1700 Fulton St. E, was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1886.

The college has enrolled 1,262 students during the 2025-26 academic year, and its new student numbers are up, with 419 new students on campus this fall, up from 311 in 2024-25.

The college’s overall enrollment total is just slightly under the approximately 1,300 students Aquinas recorded across its campus in 2023-24, according to a press release sent out in January 2025.

This year’s partnership announcements do not mark Aquinas’ first direct admittance deal.

The college also has a direct admit bachelor’s in nursing partnership with the University of Detroit Mercy, which allows students to take core curriculum courses at Aquinas and nursing classes from Detroit Mercy faculty.

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On Nov. 14, Aquinas announced its direct admittance deal with West Catholic High School.

The school, located at 1801 Bristol Ave. NW, enrolled just over 500 students as of the 2024-25 school year, according to an online school profile.

West Catholic President and CEO Jill Wierzbicki said the initiative simplifies the college application process and offers students a straightforward path to higher education.

On Nov. 20, Aquinas then announced it had also partnered with Grand Rapids’ Catholic Central High School, 319 Sheldon Blvd SE, which enrolls 567 students and is the oldest co-educational diocesan Catholic high school in the nation.

Brian Matzke, vice president for enrollment management, said there’s “no doubt that Aquinas here has had more graduates from Catholic Central than any other school in our history.”

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On Dec. 10, the college announced another partnership deal with Muskegon Catholic Central High School, 1145 W Laketon Ave., which enrolled just under 300 students in 2023-24, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Jerry McDowell, Muskegon Catholic Central president, said both the high school and Aquinas share a “deep commitment to developing the whole student — academically, spiritually, and individually.

“This direct-admit program provides our graduates with an exceptional opportunity to transition confidently into higher education while maintaining the Catholic values that guide their formation,” McDowell said.

Aquinas’ listed price for traditional undergraduate tuition is $41,192, according to senior director of strategic communications Dave DeJonge.

Students are eligible for annual merit scholarships between $15,000-$25,000, depending on their GPA and housing status. Additional scholarships may be available. This applies to all students who are admitted to Aquinas.

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Matzke highlighted the direct admittance program’s easy transition from one West Michigan school to another, with those accepted to Aquinas able to live on campus or commute from home depending on what best fits their needs.

He also said a growing Grand Rapids job market, combined with support from the college’s career center, contributes to a 97% placement rate for graduates.



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