this is getting old.

drew neitzel dropped 15 in the second half to overcome the hoosiers 10 point half time lead and to lead the michigan state spartans to a 66-58 victory tonight at the jack breslin student center. the hoosiers, who had 0 turnovers in the first half, gave it away 16 times in the second half en route to losing their fifth straight road game.

"Give Drew Neitzel credit, those shots were tough," said IU head coach Kelvin Sampson.

The Hoosiers played very efficiently in the first half, creating 16 turnovers which turned in to 15 points. However, the home crowd at the Breslin center brought the Spartans back in the game after falling behind by 13 with 19:02 to go after three free throws by Armon Bassett. Bassett added a season-high 25 points.

"There's no way we win that game without our fans because I had three guys walking on their tongues at the end," said Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. "I never thought I'd have a game when my point guards had 13 turnovers and we still won."

The Hoosiers now head into the final two games of the regular season with one more home game against Penn State and the season finale on the road at Northwestern during the first week of March.
The loss dropped IU to 18-9 (8-6).

Notes:
-IU shot 35.4% from the field while Michigan State shot 54.5%.
-The Hoosiers went deep in the bench tonight with 7 players in double-figure minutes.
- Michigan State did not score a field goal after the 3:47 mark, relying on free throws to seal the game.

Analysis:
Coach Sampson seemed to take this loss with a grain of salt in the post-game conference and I couldn't really tell if it was sarcastic. He really felt that the team played hard tonight but Michigan State's played tougher. Turnovers really killed the Hoosiers in the second half, but most of them were forced. I still like this team despite their ridiculously frustrating nature on the road. Wih Calloway coming back, I feel like this team can compete very well in the neutral big ten tourney and at the ncaa's. Should be fun, but for now, we're gonna hit the hay and then trudge back through yet another ice storm tomorrow. should be fun.

(visual credit: gm)

halftime at michigan state.

live from the breslin center ... it's your host, geoffrey miller.

the hoosiers came out strong and firing. they lead at half time 30-20 in what has proved to be their best road half of basketball since the connecticut game. this team is what we've been seeing at home!

it's a good thing the 3 ball is dropping in tonight here in east lansing. the hoosiers are 6-16 from behind the arc and 4 of 7 from the rest of the field. bassett has 11 and ratliff has 10. where's dj white though? he's gotta show up the 2nd half.

michigan state will tie this game and indiana is going to have to show some gusto. and the iu side has been getting the benefit of the doubt on several fouls. it's about time for the hoosiers on the road. i have a feeling that may change the 2nd half. and drew neitzel has to get hot at some point, right? he's only got 4.

man, it's been a fun game and this arena is amazing. enjoy the show, boys and girls.

(i'm sitting on the IU bench side about the 3rd photographer in the white shirt. conveniently right in front of the beautiful erin andrews. yes! see at the end.)

welcome to the breslin center.

well, we're here, and nice and on time. the parking is questionable, and we hope that michigan state parking services doesn't tow us. anyways, as i sit next to dick vitale and some other espn fellows, some thoughts on the arena.

first off, wow. and second? WOW. the lighting is absolutely gorgeous. (yeah, that's the photographer in me) the arena is very, very fan friendly in terms of sight lines. it's got the full wrap-around seating and even the upper levels don't seem to far away. the students are RIGHT on the court basically, and yeah, it's bright. very very bright. like standing on the sun bright.

game time is just about an hour away, and it looks like we could be awhile from home. the weather in indy is already looking real bad and we have to trek home in the ice and snow tomorrow morning and afternoon -- and possibly night. woo-hoo!

enjoy the game folks, it's gonna be a good one!

and check out the scores of some other games .... with 2:52 left kansas is beating iowa state 85-47. the score was 70-29 with 9 minutes left. mercy rule anyone? and florida got beat, again. too bad.

maybe we'll chat at halftime. laterz.

it's gameday.

this is kind of a funny situation. i'm sitting in bloomington right now and watching college gameday. in 7 hours, i'm going to be at that arena. it really feels like we need to have left hours ago, but in all reality it's a 4 and half hour drive. and right now we're 9 and a half hours away from game time in east lansing.

the hoosiers will be taking on the spartans in this nationally televised contest on espn. it should be a decent ball game if a quality iu team shows up. but their play on the road has been mediocre, at best. however, i've got an interesting stat for the big ten. of all the big ten teams (including top 5 teams ohio state and wisconsin), there has only been a grand total of 21 games won on the road. naturally a good percentage of that is conference play, but that also includes non-conference. regardless, it's tough to win on the road in the big ten.

as for tonight? michigan state's drew neitzel has been streaking, and i think he'll play up for the crowd. look for him to be over 20 tonight at the breslin center. i'm also gonna go out and say that roderick wilmont and dj white will have very, very decent games tonight. rod will knock down some shots early and keep it close, and the hoosiers will keep going to dj late in the game. he just needs to stay out of foul trouble.

i'm going to call the upset tonight, and its an upset based on the location of the game. iu needs to win a big road game, and tonight is the last tough contest for them.

iu wins 69-64. look for some possible updates at half and at the conclusion if the media room is accessible.

he'll go down as the best.

baseball is just about ready to get started in full swing, and for this 2007 season, it looks like barry bonds could reach and pass henry aaron's all-time record of 755.

jeff pearlman, a senior writer for sports illustrated, wrote this great piece talking about a single moment in 1998 that would change the face of baseball forever. two stars met and went on decidedly different paths.

one will be the most talked about player for decades, and the other will remembered much less frequently, despite his impressive effort and enormous respect for the game.

here's to you, ken griffey jr.

auto club 500 picks.

the 2007 nascar pick 'em contest selections for the auto club 500 on sunday in california are (in order of current standings):

drew owen (10 points) -- jimmie johnson

"since a chevy hasnt won at fontana in the last 2 races there, i think a chevy is due, and since the only chevy's that have won there in the past couple of years are hendrick cars, im gonna call jimmie to win it"
--
geoffrey miller (5 points) -- jeff gordon

"i have to go with the 24 car this weekend because of the excellent performance at california last year by the dupont crew. gordon was in the top 5 late in the race until battery troubles knocked him back in the spring, and a miscue on pit road prevented the victory in the fall edition, despite leading quite a bit. enjoy that 24 in victory lane on sunday, boys."
--
trevor sager (0 points) -- matt kenseth

"Matt Kenseth will defend his Auto Club 500 trophy this Sunday in the Carhartt Fusion's 1st apperance of '07."

e.r. visit number 1.

beck 5 of read center -- at least for the "suburbs" side of the floor -- got its first emergency room visit last night with our voyage to bloomington hospital. the lucky fellow? kevin gorkis, aka "the naperville bleeder".

gorkis' fantastic evening started after getting a very questionable elbow to the jaw going up for a rebound in a one-on-one game against boston joe. some have said it merited an intentional foul, but others insist that "it's just part of the game". the collision left kevin with a gaping hole in his lip, which naturally allowed some quality blood-letting. (is this graphic enough for you yet? haha) eventually we got kevin over to the bloomington hospital, and about 1 and a half hours later, we were jumping in the taxi with some new prescriptions and a lip with two layers of stitches.

we were told it would be the size of a golfball in the morning, so if it is, be ready for some quality photography of that situation. i have a feeling kevin will be doing just fine, however, as the medication provided will certainly clear much of the pain.

nachos, anyone?

visual: kevin gettin' them stitches put in. credit:gm

finally.

well the hoosiers came back nicely tonight with a win at home tonight. was it a great game? no. was it a win? yes, and that's all that matters. ben allen didn't play as much as i thought, but he did add four points. dj white looked good all around the hoop, with quite a few fadeaway jumpers knocked in.

good stat of the night? the iu hoosiers forced 6 offensive fouls from the gophers.

good win, 71-59. not too far off my prediction. yeah, call me the swami.

next up: college gameday game of the week in east lansing, michigan against michigan state saturday at 9 on espn. yours truly will be courtside with a brief update or two. look for a preview on friday.

until we meet again, keep it realer. (thanks, chappelle)