5 Things For Feb. 14; Michigan State Blows Out Northwestern

1. Northwestern has been a pesky team over the past month, compiling three quality road wins in a row.  Michigan State made sure to put that streak to an end, beating the Wildcats 85-70 in a game that was never really close. 

Adreian Payne showed no lingering effects of his foot injury, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.  It was a very strong all-around performance for the Spartans.  They out-rebounded Northwestern 37-24, shot 53.3% from the field, and had six players score at least eight points.

2.  The Lions made some interesting moves yesterday, cutting two of their starters to free up cap space.  The Detroit Free Press reported that the team let go of wide receiver Nate Burleson and safety Louis Delmas, saving the team $11.5 million against the salary cap.

Burleson had 39 catches and 461 receiving yards in the nine games he played last season.  There is a good possibility that the Lions take a receiver 10th overall in April's NFL draft; keep your eye on Mike Evans of Texas A&M, Marqise Lee of USC, or Sammy Watkins of Clemson (though he will likely be gone by that pick).

Delmas was overpaid at $6 million per year, and the team will likely add a cheaper free agent at that position this off-season.

3. Some news and notes from the Olympic hockey tournament: USA Today reports that

Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg will return home from Sochi with a herniated disk in his back.  It is unknown whether team Sweden's captain will be ready when NHL action resumes.

Team USA got an extremely impressive win over Slovakia yesterday, 7-1.  Paul Stastny had two goals for the Americans, who will play Russia tomorrow at 7:30 am.

4.  Our high school basketball game of the night will be Holt at Okemos.  Holt is just a game back of Grand Ledge for 1st place in the CAAC Blue standings.  GL will play at Everett, who upset Holt last week.  Some other good games are Portland at Williamston, and Jackson at Lansing Eastern.  The Lansing State Journal's complete list of games is here. 

5.  The Michigan State hockey team plays at Penn State this weekend.  The Spartans are searching for their first regulation win in almost a month.