All-American Roster Michigan State knew coming into the season it had one All-American on its roster in guard Drew Neitzel. It hopes to have found another in Raymar Morgan. Morgan and the 10th-ranked Spartans look to avoid falling to a ranked team for the second time in three games when they host No. 24 North Carolina State on Wednesday night as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Author: Anthony Rome
Avengers Old Dominion was impressive despite losing two tough games to national powers over the weekend. Georgetown is well aware of what the Monarchs are capable of. The fifth-ranked Hoyas (3-0) look to avenge last season’s loss to Old Dominion when they visit Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday night.
Defensive Effort Needed The San Antonio Spurs have built one of the strongest franchises in the NBA by becoming one of the league’s stingiest defensive teams. Lately, however, that signature characteristic of their game has been noticeably absent. After having their five-game win streak snapped because of another uncharacteristically poor defensive effort, the Spurs look to avoid their first back-to-back defeats of the season Wednesday when they host the high-scoring Washington Wizards.
Not Down For Long The last time the Phoenix Suns lost a game, they responded with eight straight wins. Phoenix will try to rebound from its first loss in three weeks when it hosts the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
Elite Status The San Jose Sharks are trying to re-establish themselves among the league’s elite. An elite team should be able to beat opponents like the last-place Los Angeles Kings on home ice. The Sharks look to overcome their home struggles against the Kings when the in-state rivals meet Wednesday night.
Division Rivals Clash Too many losses over the past few seasons cost Glen Hanlon his job as coach of the Washington Capitals. A fair share of those defeats came to the Southeast Division rival Florida Panthers. Washington interim coach Bruce Boudreau looks for better results against Florida than his predecessor managed when the Capitals and Panthers meet for the third time this season Wednesday.
Lakers Take on Sonics The Los Angeles Lakers enjoyed the first half of their six-game stretch against the Eastern Conference much better than the second. Los Angeles tries to end a three-game losing streak on Tuesday night when it hosts a Seattle SuperSonics team that has dropped four straight.
No Vacation For Memphis Unsatisfied with his team’s effort last week, Memphis coach John Calipari shortened the No. 3 Tigers’ vacation. Calipari will see if the move paid off on Tuesday night when his team hosts Austin Peay.
Sixers Head to Milwaukee The Milwaukee Bucks look to move to 7-0 at home for the first time in 17 years and extend their overall win streak to six Tuesday when they meet the Philadelphia 76ers. Milwaukee (7-4) remained perfect at home with a 97-95 victory over Dallas on Saturday and will now be looking to win its first seven games at the Bradley Center since opening 18-0 there in the 1990-91 season.
No Anthem For MNF Sports in America start with the national anthem. The Dolphins-Steelers game was an exception. Rushing to begin the nationally televised matchup following a 25-minute weather delay, the NFL chose to skip the anthem Monday night before Miami played Pittsburgh. The game started without any of the traditional pregame ceremonies, except the coin toss, and neither team was introduced on the public address system.