# 1983–84 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1983–84 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1983–84 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 eighth year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 15–13, 8–10 to finish in a tie for fifth place in Big Ten play.
Due to NCAA sanctions against Wisconsin for providing improper benefits for players, MSU's official record for the year is 16–12, 9–9.
The season is notable as the first season future Spartan head coach Tom Izzo was an official assistant coach under Heathcote.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1982–83 season with a record of 17–13, 9–9 to finish in sixth place in Big Ten play. The Spartans received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Bowling Green State before losing to Fresno State.

## Roster and statistics

1983–84 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 4 | Scott Skiles | G | SO | 6–1 | 14.5 | 2.2 | 4.6 |
| 11 | Sam Vincent | G | JR | 6–2 | 15.6 | 2.7 | 3.0 |
| 42 | Kevin Willis | C | SR | 7–0 | 11.0 | 7.7 | 0.3 |
| 35 | Larry Polec | F | JR | 6–8 | 6.0 | 3.9 | 0.9 |
| 13 | Darryl Johnson | G | FR | 6–2 | 6.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| 00 | Ken Johnson | F | JR | 6–8 | 8.5 | 6.9 | 0.2 |
| 20 | Ben Tower | F | SR | 6–8 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 1.4 |
| 44 | Patrick Ford | G/F | SO | 6–5 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 0.5 |
| 15 | Ralph Walker | F | SO | 6–8 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| 24 | Richard Mudd | F/C | SR | 6–9 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.1 |
| 21 | Greg Pedro | G | FR | 6–4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| 40 | Barry Fordham | F | FR | 6–8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| 10 | Tim Gore | G | SR | 6–4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 25, 1983* | No. 12 | Central Michigan Spartan Cutlass Classic | W 73–52 | 1–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Nov 26, 1983* | No. 12 | Western Michigan Spartan Cutlass Classic | W 81–52 | 2–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 1, 1983* | No. 11 | vs. Saint Peter's | L 66–73 | 2–1 | |
| Dec 3, 1983* | No. 11 | Illinois-Chicago | W 99–82 | 3–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing |
| Dec 12, 1983* | No. 17 | at Cleveland State | W 71–62 | 4–1 | Woodling Gym Cleveland, OH |
| Dec 15, 1983* | No. 17 | Brooklyn | W 85–72 | 5–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing. MI |
| Dec 22, 1983* | No. 19 | at Missouri | L 66–79 | 5–2 | Hearnes Center Columbia, MO |
| Dec 28, 1983* | | vs. Alabama Cotton States Classic semifinal | L 69–81 | 5–3 | The Omni Atlanta, GA |
| Dec 29, 1983* | | vs. Nebraska Cotton States Classic third place game | W 58–45 | 6–3 | The Omni Atlanta, GA |
| Jan 4, 1984 | | Iowa | W 73–72 | 7–3 (1–0) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 7, 1984 | | Northwestern | L 69–76 | 7–4 (1–1) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 12, 1984 | | at Wisconsin | L 74–81† | 7–5 (1–2) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Jan 14, 1984 | | at Minnesota | L 61–69 | 7–6 (1–3) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 19, 1984 | | Indiana | L 62–70 $^{OT}$ | 7–7 (1–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 21, 1984 | | Ohio State | L 68–82 | 7–8 (1–5) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 26, 1984 | | No. 9 Illinois | L 40–46 | 7–9 (1–6) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 28, 1984 | | Purdue | L 54–72 | 7–10 (1–7) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 2, 1984 | | Michigan Rivalry | W 72–67 | 8–10 (2–7) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 5, 1984* | | Oregon State | W 56–55 | 9–10 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 11, 1984 | | Michigan Rivalry | L 61–71 | 9–11 (2–8) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 16, 1984 | | No. 11 Purdue | W 63–42 | 10–11 (3–8) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 19, 1984 | | No. 7 Illinois | L 53–70 | 10–12 (3–9) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 22, 1984 | | Ohio State | L 70–86 | 10–13 (3–10) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 26, 1984 | | Indiana | W 57–54 | 11–13 (4–10) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Mar 1, 1984 | | Minnesota | W 83–62 | 12–13 (5–10) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 3, 1984 | | Wisconsin | W 78–59 | 13–13 (6–10) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 8, 1984 | | Northwestern | W 63–55 | 14–13 (7–10) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Mar 11, 1984 | | Iowa | W 51–44 | 15–13 (8–10) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source †Game forfeited by Wisconsin due to NCAA violations at a later date. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Sam Vincent – All-Big Ten First Team