1989–90 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 120 4 3 14th Basketball 1989–90 Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Spartans script.svg Big Ten Conference Steve Smith Ken Redfield Big Ten 28–6 15–3 Jud Heathcote Tom Izzo Herb Williams Jim Boylen Breslin Center Big Ten championsGreat Alaska Shootout champions Oldsmobile Spartan Classic champions NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen The 1989–90 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at newly-opened Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his 14th year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 28–6, 15–3 to win the Big Ten championship by two games. As the No. 3-ranked team in the country, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Southeast region. In the first round, they narrowly avoided becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose a No. 16 seed, beating Murray State in overtime. They then defeated UC Santa Barbara in the second round to earn a trip to the Sweet Sixteen, their first trip since 1986. There they lost in overtime to Georgia Tech. Ken Redfield was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Previous season The Spartans finished the 1988–89 season 18–15, 6–12 to finish in eighth place in Big Ten play. Michigan State received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. There the Spartans beat Kent State, Wichita State, and Villanova to reach the final four at Madison Square Garden. In the semifinals, they lost to Saint Louis before losing to UAB in the third-place game. Season summary The Spartans were led by junior Steve Smith (20.2 points and 7.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game), senior Kirk Manns (15.5 points per game), and Ken Redfield (11.6 points per game). The team also featured sophomore Mark Montgomery and freshman Dwayne Stephens who would both later become assistant coaches at Michigan State under Tom Izzo. MSU began their season by traveling to Alaska to participate in the Great Alaska Shootout. There, they defeated Auburn, Texas A&M, and Kansas State to capture the Shootout championship. They suffered their first loss of the season at UIC after being ranked for the first time that season. Two games later, the Spartans lost at Breslin Center to Bowling Green. They finished their non-conference schedule with an 11–2 record. Michigan State started the Big Ten season 3–0 before losing to No. 7 Illinois on the road. In a four-game stretch against ranked teams, the Spartans defeated No. 12 Indiana in Bloomington, but lost to rival No. 7 Michigan at home. A loss to No. 19 Minnesota preceded a win over No. 8 Purdue and left the Spartans at 6–3 in the Big Ten. Following the victory over Purdue, MSU entered the AP rankings at No. 23. The Spartans won their remaining nine games to finish the season on a 10-game winning streak. The streak included wins over No. 15 Illinois, No. 25 Indiana, No. 8 Michigan, No. 17 Minnesota, and No. 10 Purdue in a six-game stretch. The finish gave the Spartans the Big Ten championship by two games over Purdue with a 15–3 record, and they finished the season ranked No. 3 in the country. The Spartans received the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed. In the Tournament, the Spartans narrowly defeated 16th-seeded Murray State, led by Popeye Jones, in overtime to avoid becoming the only No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed.https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/16/sports/michigan-state-edges-murray-state-in-overtime.html Michigan State Edges Murray State in Overtime Jacobs Barry 1990-03-16 The New York Times 0362-4331 2016-07-07https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-16-sp-152-story.html NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : SOUTHEAST REGIONAL : Popeye Can't Finish Off Michigan State PENNER MIKE 1990-03-16 Los Angeles Times en-US 0458-3035 2016-07-07 They again narrowly defeated ninth-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the second round by four points to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1986.https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/03/18/michigan-state-not-trying-to-look-good-and-succeeding/ Michigan State Not Trying To Look Good, And Succeeding 2016-07-07 In the Sweet Sixteen, the Spartans 12-game winning streak came to end as they lost to fourth-seeded Georgia Tech. The game featured a controversial last second basket by Tech's Kenny Anderson to force overtime where the Spartans fell 81–80.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-24-sp-619-story.html NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : SOUTHEAST REGIONALS : Georgia Tech Beats Clock (?), Michigan State in Overtime PENNER MIKE 1990-03-24 Los Angeles Times en-US 0458-3035 2016-07-07 Roster and statistics 1989–90 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball teamNoNamePosYearHeightPtsRebAst22Jeff CaslerGJR6–00.80.40.523Jesse HallGJR6–31.01.10.410Kirk MannsGSR6–115.31.81.811Mark MontgomeryGSO6–23.62.02.934Dave MuellerCSR6–90.30.50.054Mike PeplowskiCFR6–105.35.80.720Ken RedfieldFSR6–711.66.83.121Steve SmithGJR6–620.27.04.835Matt SteigengaFSO6–710.43.51.931Dwayne StephensFFR6–74.33.00.824Todd WolfeGSR6–52.11.20.425Jon ZulaufFFR6–60.71.00.2 Sourcehttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1991-schedule.html 1990-91 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Resultshttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/msu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2015-16/misc_non_event/201516basketballguide.pdf 2015-2016 Michigan State Spartans Media Guide Michigan State University dead https://web.archive.org/web/20180208150037/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/msu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2015-16/misc_non_event/201516basketballguide.pdf February 8, 2018 Schedule and results no no |- !colspan=9 style=Michigan State Spartans| Non-conference regular season Nov 24, 1989 yes yes Auburn Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK Great Alaska Shootout 92–79 1–0 Nov 25, 1989 yes yes Texas A&M Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK Great Alaska Shootout semifinals 87–75 2–0 Nov 27, 1989 yes yes Kansas State Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK Great Alaska Shootout championship 73–68 3–0 Nov 29, 1989 yes Nebraska Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 80–69 4–0 Dec 2, 1989 yes yes Furman Memorial Auditorium Greenville, SC 84–63 5–0 Dec 9, 1989 yes Austin Peay Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 88–76 6–0 Dec 12, 1989 yes yes 25 UIC UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL 57–65 6–1 Dec 16, 1989 yes 25 Detroit Mercy Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 94–65 7–1 Dec 18, 1989 yes 25 Bowling Green State Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 79–81 7–2 Dec 20, 1989 yes yes 25 Evansville Roberts Stadium Evansville, IN 80–66 8–2 Dec 23, 1989 yes 25 Eastern Michigan Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 87–73 9–2 Dec 29, 1989 yes San Jose State Breslin Center East Lansing, MI Oldsmobile Spartan Classic semifinals 88–61 10–2 Dec 30, 1989 yes Princeton Breslin Center East Lansing, MI Oldsmobile Spartan Classic championship 51–49 11–2 |- !colspan=9 style=Michigan State Spartans| Big Ten regular season Jan 6, 1990 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 64–61 12–2 1–0 Jan 11, 1990 Ohio State Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 78–68 13–2 2–0 Jan 13, 1990 Iowa Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 87–80 14–2 3–0 Jan 18, 1990 yes Illinois 7 Assembly Hall (Illinois) Champaign, IL 64–73 14–3 3–1 Jan 20, 1990 Northwestern Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 91–80 15–3 4–1 Jan 24, 1990 yes Indiana 12 Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN 75–57 16–3 5–1 Jan 27, 1990 yes Michigan 7 Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI Rivalry 63–65 16–4 5–2 Feb 1, 1990 Minnesota 19 Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 74–79 16–5 5–3 Feb 3, 1990 yes Purdue 8 Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN 64–53 17–5 6–3 Feb 8, 1990 23 Wisconsin Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 60–57 18–5 7–3 Feb 10, 1990 yes 25 Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 84–75 19–5 8–3 Feb 12, 1990 yes 23 Iowa Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA 80–70 20–5 9–3 Feb 17, 1990 21 Illinois 15 Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 70–63 21–6 10–3 Feb 25, 1990 15 Indiana 25 Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 72–66 22–6 11–3 Mar 1, 1990 14 Michigan 8 Breslin Center East Lansing, MI Rivalry 78–70 23–5 12–3 Mar 3, 1990 yes 14 Minnesota 17 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 75–73 24–5 13–3 Mar 8, 1990 yes 7 Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL 84–68 25–5 14–3 Mar 11, 1990 7 Purdue 10 Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 72–70 26–5 15–3 |- !colspan=9 style=Michigan State Spartans|NCAA tournament Mar 15, 1990 yes yes 3 1 SE Murray State 16 SE Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN First Round 75–71 OT 27–5 Mar 17, 1990 yes yes 3 1 SE UC-Santa Barbara 9 SE Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN Second Round 62–58 28–5 Mar 23, 1990 yes yes 3 1 SE Georgia Tech 4 SE 9 Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA Sweet Sixteen 80–81 OT 28–6 AP Poll, Central TimeSourcehttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1990-schedule.html 1989-90 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results Rankings + Ranking movementLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. Poll Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 AP NRNRNR2525NRNRNRNRNR NR 23 21 15 14 7 3 Source.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1990-schedule.html 1993 Michigan State Spartans College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com 2016-04-29 Awards and honors Steve Smith – All-Big Ten First Team References Category:Michigan State Spartans men's basketball seasons Michigan State Michigan State Michigan State Spartans men's b Michigan State Spartans men's b