1977–78 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1977–78 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by second-year head coach, Jud Heathcote. MSU finished the season 25–5, 15–3 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten Championship. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Providence and Western Kentucky before losing to Kentucky in the Mideast Regional Final. The team was led by freshman Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Gregory Kelser.

1977–78 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
Big Ten champions
Old Dominion Classic champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 4
Record25–5 (15–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Captains
Home arenaJenison Fieldhouse
Seasons
1977–78 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 Michigan State 15 3   .833 25 5   .833
No. 13 Indiana 12 6   .667 21 8   .724
Minnesota 12 6   .667 17 10   .630
Michigan 11 7   .611 16 11   .593
Purdue 11 7   .611 16 11   .593
Ohio State 9 9   .500 16 11   .593
Illinois 7 11   .389 13 14   .481
Iowa 5 13   .278 12 15   .444
Northwestern 4 14   .222 8 19   .296
Wisconsin 4 14   .222 8 19   .296
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

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The Spartans finished the 1976–77 season with a record of 10–17, 7–11 to finish in fifth place in Big Ten play.

Roster and stats

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1977–78 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No Name Pos Year Height Pts Reb Ast
32 Gregory Kelser F JR 6–7 17.7 9.1 1.3
33 Earvin Johnson F FR 6–8 17.0 7.9 7.4
44 Robert Chapman G SR 6–2 12.3 2.7 2.0
31 Jay Vincent C FR 6–8 11.3 3.7 1.0
15 Ron Charles F SO 6–7 6.3 1.4 0.3
11 Terry Donnelly G SO 6–2 6.0 1.4 2.4
12 Mike Brkovich G FR 6–4 2.3 0.6 0.7
43 Sten Feidrech C FR 7–0 1.6 1.9 0.4
45 James Couture C SR 6–9 1.8 1.2 0.0
25 Alfred Brown G SR 6–6 1.4 1.0 0.3
24 Len Williams G SO 6–0 2.2 0.4 0.4
21 Donald Flowers G SR 6–2 1.0 0.1 0.0
41 Dan Riewald G SR 6–5 0.5 0.8 0.2
22 Nate Philips G SR 6–4 0.0 0.3 0.3
23 Mike Longaker G SO 6–1 0.0 0.0 0.0
42 Rick Kaye G FR 6–7 0.0 0.0 0.0

Source[1][2]

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 28, 1977*
Central Michigan W 68–61  1–0
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec. 2, 1977*
vs. Rhode Island
Carrier Classic
W 92–64  2–0
Manley Field House 
Syracuse, NY
Dec 3, 1977*
at No. 12 Syracuse
Carrier Classic
L 67–75  2–1
Manley Field House 
Syracuse, NY
Dec 8, 1977*
Wichita State W 84–57  3–1
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 10, 1977*
Western Michigan W 79–57  4–1
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 19, 1977*
Middle Tennessee W 72–51  5–1
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 21, 1977*
at No. 15 Detroit Mercy W 103–74  6–1
Calihan Hall 
Detroit, MI
Dec 29, 1977*
vs. SMU
Old Dominion Classic semifinal
W 95–69  7–1
Norfolk Scope 
Norfolk, VA
Dec 30, 1977*
vs. New Hampshire
Old Dominion Classic championship
W 102–65  8–1
Norfolk Scope 
Norfolk, VA
Big Ten regular season
Jan 5, 1978
No. 18 Minnesota W 87–83  9–1
(1–0)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 7, 1978
No. 18 at Wisconsin W 74–63  10–1
(2–0)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 12, 1978
No. 12 at Illinois W 82–70  11–1
(3–0)
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL
Jan 14, 1978
No. 12 Northwestern W 67–63  12–1
(4–0)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
Jan 19, 1978
No. 10 Purdue W 60–51  13–1
(5–0)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 21, 1978
No. 10 Iowa W 68–58  14–1
(6–0)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 26, 1978
No. 7 at Ohio State W 70–60  15–1
(7–0)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, OH
Jan 28, 1978
No. 7 at Indiana L 58–59  15–2
(7–1)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
Feb 2, 1979
No. 7 Michigan
Rivalry
L 63–65  15–3
(7–2)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 4, 1978
No. 10 Indiana W 68–59  16–3
(8–2)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 9, 1978
No. 10 at Iowa W 71–70  17–3
(9–2)
Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, IA
Feb 11, 1978
No. 10 at Michigan
Rivalry
W 73–62  18–3
(10–2)
Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, MI
Feb 16, 1978
No. 10 at Purdue L 80–99  18–4
(10–3)
Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, IN
Feb 18, 1978
No. 10 Ohio State W 66–56  19–4
(11–3)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 23, 1978
No. 10 Northwestern W 66–56  20–4
(12–3)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 25, 1978
No. 10 Illinois W 89–67  21–4
(13–3)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Mar 2, 1978
No. 9 at Wisconsin W 89–75  22–4
(14–3)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, WI
Mar 4, 1978
No. 9 at Minnesota W 71–70  23–4
(15–3)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1978*
No. 6 vs. Providence
First Round
W 77–63  24–4
Market Square Arena 
Indianapolis, IN
Mar 16, 1978*
No. 4 vs. Western Kentucky
Sweet Sixteen
W 90–69  25–4
University of Dayton Arena 
Dayton, OH
Mar 18, 1978*
No. 4 vs. No. 1 Kentucky
Elite Eight
L 49–52  25–5
University of Dayton Arena 
Dayton, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
ME=MidEast Region.
Source[3][2]

Awards and honors

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  • Earvin "Magic" Johnson – All-Big Ten First Team

References

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  1. ^ "1977-78 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats".
  2. ^ a b "16-17 Michigan State Spartans" (PDF). Michigan State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  3. ^ "1977-78 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results".