Battlefield » when and if he gets in - as a Ra

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. Peter Forsberg Jersey . While he was away, it was the division-rival Baltimore Orioles conducting a little business of their own, scooping up Ubaldo Jimenez on Monday evening to a reported four-year, $50-million contract. Joe Sakic Jersey . The biggest collapse in franchise history was a long time ago, and he was too busy trying to make sure it didnt happen again. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic...alanche-jersey/. The game got off to a less-than-ideal start for the Jets as Oliver Ekman-Larsson found a wide open net from the slot and opened the scoring for the Coyotes a lead in the first period, but Olli Jokinen answered back just over half a minute later. John Wensink Jersey . -- Canadas Justin Shin shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday on PGA Wests Nicklaus Tournament Course to take the first-round lead in the Web. Lanny McDonald Jersey .com) - Intrastate rivals collide Saturday as the Texas State Bobcats hit the road to take on the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns in a non-conference battle at Frank Erwin Center.TORONTO - I dont believe in luck, DeMar DeRozan told reporters after practice on Thursday, speaking in the context of his teams quick start to the campaign. He was dealt an unfortunate hand just over 24 hours later. Nearly four minutes into the second half of Friday nights tilt with Dallas, the Raptors All-Star guard drove to his right, something he does routinely every game. As he went to plant his foot, he slipped and crumpled to the floor, where he remained for over a minute. The entire team stood around DeRozan, who winced in pain, until he was eventually helped up and to the locker room. Despite a late-game rally, the Raptors could not get over the hump, falling 106-102, their first loss in seven games, but the more pressing concern was the status of their leading scorer. Just hopefully hes okay, Patrick Patterson said of DeRozan, who did not return after sustaining a strained left groin. Hopefully its nothing serious, hopefully hes able to turn around and bounce back. DeRozan was having a rough night before the injury bug bit. After a hard fall early in the game, he came up holding his right wrist. In 21 minutes of action, he was held scoreless, missing all eight of his shots without getting to the free throw line. He was not the only Raptor stymied by the Mavericks tenacious defence, especially early in the game. Jonas Valanciunas was also held without a point in the first half before bouncing back in the second half, as the Raptors shot just 42 per cent as a team and committed an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers on the evening. Kyle Lowry was forced to sit out with three fouls for a significant chunk of the first half, while the team played with DeRozan for most of the second. Still, they continued to fight and would cut their deficit - once as high as 15 - down to three a number of times late in the fourth quarter. With 25 points - 13 in the fourth - Lowry led the charge and Amir Johnson, scoring a season-high 20, assisted with his best outing of the season. “I really loved our fight in the fourth quarter, the way we ended the game and kept scrapping,” Dwane Casey said. “I told the guys this a few minutes ago: If we continue to compete like that at a high level, we’re going to win a lot of games. That’s a good team. They’re not chopped liver at all. They’re going to be in the deep money in the West when it’s all over with. We ended up losing, said Greivis Vasquez, who scored nine of his 14 in the final frame. I think you have got to give them credit. They played a great game. They shot the lights out. Our best player went down, but we still kept the game close. It was one of those games where you just have to move on and understand what we’re getting into, a west coast trip. We have just got to continue to grind. It’s not the end of the world. We lost a game. So what? On to the next one. We get better. We have to defend better. We have to rebound better. We have to play transition defence better. We have to do a lot of different things better. But we’re still, what, 13-3? That’s a prettty good record to me.dddddddddddd Now, the focus shifts to DeRozans health. The team did not have an update on the guard, whos missed just 11 games over his six-year career, but hope to know more about his status on Saturday. I mean it is what it is, said Lowry. We know hes going to be fine. We know hes going to take care of his body and well see whats going on. Weve got to play. Next man up. Its a team, not about one guy. If anybody goes down the next man has to step up. Its early and hopefully he takes all the time thats needed for him to 100 per cent heal and get back, Patterson added. We want him back as soon as possible but its all about him recovering and being 100 per cent before he does that. Rose returns, rips old regime An elite quote throughout his playing career, Jalen Roses brief Raptors tenure will be remembered just as much for his honest quips, however brutal, as anything he did on the court. Fittingly, the 13-year NBA vet turned ABC and ESPN analyst was in fine form when he held court ahead of Fridays game, on a night in which he was honored by the Raptors as part of their continued 20th anniversary celebrations. Rose, who received a warm welcome from fans after a video tribute in the first quarter, threw a couple of jabs at former general manager Rob Babcock and the front office regime that engineered the trade of Vince Carter, a deal Rose was critical of at the time. Carter, Roses teammate in Toronto before he was dealt to the Nets nearly 10 years ago, was honoured in similar fashion earlier this month, getting noticeably emotional when he was greeted with cheers for the first time since his exit. Well, the way [Carter] was overcome by emotion and the way he shed a couple of tears, thats how I felt when we traded him for Aaron and Eric [Williams] and Alonzo Mourning who never was deciding to make the trip, Rose joked. Hes the greatest Raptor in team history. As a player who has been traded before I know that when things get out to the public, like where your mom is parking, that means somebody in the front office is clearly leaking information to try to make you look bad and make the transition easier when you move a great player like him. The 41-year-old Rose wasnt surprised to see fans in Toronto finally embrace Carter, even speculating that the former face of the franchise would choose to go into the Hall of Fame - when and if he gets in - as a Raptor. Throughout his time in Toronto and in the years to follow, Rose said he would always boast about the teams fan base, hoping to change the perception that players dont want to move to Canada. It existed but we took pride to try to change it, said Rose, who averaged 16.2 points in 117 games over three seasons with the Raptors. Drafting Rafael Araujo didnt help. We needed a couple a players that could contribute, so it starts with the moves the teams make. We werent really adding to that team like I felt like we could. What did we trade Vince for? When that ends up happening, its hard to truly have success. 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