1979–80 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his fourth year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished the season 12–15, 6–12 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place in conference.

1979–80 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record12–15 (6–12 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • William Berry
  • Dave Harshman
  • Edgar Wilson
  • Fred Paulsen
Captains
  • Ronald Charles
  • Terry Donnelly
Home arenaJenison Field House
Seasons
1979–80 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 Indiana 13 5   .722 21 8   .724
No. 10 Ohio State 12 6   .667 21 8   .724
No. 20 Purdue 11 7   .611 23 10   .697
Iowa 10 8   .556 23 10   .697
Minnesota 10 8   .556 21 11   .656
Illinois 8 10   .444 22 13   .629
Michigan 8 10   .444 17 13   .567
Wisconsin 7 11   .389 15 14   .517
Michigan State 6 12   .333 12 15   .444
Northwestern 5 13   .278 10 17   .370
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

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The Spartans finished the 1978–79 season 26–6, 13–5 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten and ranked No. 3 in the country. The Spartans received a No. 2 seed in the Mideast of the NCAA Tournament. MSU defeated Lamar, Louisiana State, and Notre Dame to advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four, they defeated Penn by 34 points to face overall No. 1 Indiana State. The Spartans won the National Championship as Magic Johnson led MSU over Larry Bird and the Sycamores.

Roster and statistics

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1979–80 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No Name Pos Year Height Pts Reb
5 Kevin Smith G SO 6–1 8.4 1.8
11 Terry Donnelly G SR 6–2 8.8 1.4
12 Mike Brkovich G JR 6–4 8.8 2.7
15 Ron Charles F SR 6–8 14.5 8.9
21 Don Brkovich F SO 6–6 1.0
22 Bill Cawood G FR 6–6 0.5
23 Mike Longaker G SR 6–2 1.2 0.2
30 Kurt James F JR 6–7 1.5 2.6
31 Jay Vincent C JR 6–8 21.5 7.7
35 Rob Gonzalez F SO 6–7 2.3 1.1
41 Derek Perry F FR 6–6 2.4 1.2
42 Richard Kaye F JR 6–6 1.0
44 Herb Bostic F FR 6–4 1.1 0.6
52 Steve Bates C SO 6–10 0.7 0.8

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 30, 1979*
vs. Princeton
Lapchick Memorial Tournament semifinal
W 60–46  1–0
Carnesecca Arena 
Jamaica, NY
Dec 1, 1979*
at No. 16 St. John's
Lapchick Memorial Tournament championship
L 73–88  1–1
Carnesecca Arena 
Jamaica, NY
Dec 6, 1979*
Long Beach State W 87–73  2–1
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 10, 1979*
Portland State W 88–54  3–1
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 14, 1979*
at Wichita State L 54–55  3–2
Levitt Arena 
Wichita, KS
Dec 18, 1979*
at Central Michigan W 95–76  4–2
Rose Arena 
Mount Pleasant, MI
Dec 20, 1979*
at Detroit Mercy W 63–57  5–2
Calihan Hall 
Detroit, MI
Dec 28, 1979*
vs. Weber State
Las Vegas Holiday Classic semifinal
L 61–63  5–3
Las Vegas Convention Center 
Las Vegas, NV
Dec 29, 1979*
vs. Loyola Marymount
Las Vegas Holiday Classic third place game
W 82–65  6–3
Las Vegas Convention Center 
Las Vegas, NV
Big Ten regular season
Jan 3, 1980
No. 8 Purdue W 73–71  6–4
(0–1)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 5, 1980
Minnesota L 80–93  6–5
(0–2)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 10, 1980
at Northwestern L 61–65  6–6
(0–3)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
Jan 12, 1980
at No. 19 Indiana L 64–72  6–7
(0–4)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
Jan 17, 1980
Wisconsin W 62–61  7–7
(1–4)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 19, 1980
No. 13 Iowa W 75–67  8–7
(2–4)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 24, 1980
at Michigan
Rivalry
W 59–58  9–7
(3–4)
Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 26, 1980
at Illinois L 65–74  9–8
(3–5)
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL
Jan 31, 1980
No. 6 Ohio State W 74–54  10–8
(4–5)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 2, 1980
Illinois W 68–59  11–8
(5–5)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 7, 1980
at Iowa L 39–44  11–9
(5–6)
Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, IA
Feb 9, 1980
at No. 13 Ohio State L 59–71  11–10
(5–7)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, OH
Feb 14, 1980
at Wisconsin L 66–80  11–11
(5–8)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, WI
Feb 16, 1980
Michigan
Rivalry
W 82–74  12–11
(6–8)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 21, 1980
No. 19 Indiana L 72–75  12–12
(6–9)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 23, 1980
Northwestern L 73–75  12–13
(6–10)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 28, 1980
at Minnesota L 73–87  12–14
(6–11)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
Mar 1, 1980
at No. 18 Purdue L 73–91  12–15
(6–12)
Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
Source[3][2]

Awards and honors

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  • Jay Vincent – All-Big Ten First Team
  • Jay Vincent – Big Ten Scoring Champion (22.1 ppg in-conference)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1979–80 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  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. ^ "1979-80 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results".