# 1997–98 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by third-year head coach, Tom Izzo. The Spartans finished the season 22–8, 13–3 in Big Ten play to win a share the regular season Big Ten regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the inaugural Big Ten tournament, they were upset by Minnesota in the quarterfinals. MSU received a bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 seed in the East region, marking the school's first appearance in the Tournament since 1995 and first under Izzo. They defeated Eastern Michigan in the First Round which marked their first Tournament win since 1994. They then defeated Princeton to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1990. There they lost to No. 1-ranked North Carolina.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1996–97 season 17–12, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place. Michigan State received an invitation to the NIT and beat George Washington in the first round. In the second round, they lost to Florida State.
The Spartans lost Jon Garavaglia (10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game) and Ray Weathers (13.6 points per game) to graduation following the season.

## Season summary

The Spartans began the season looking for their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1995. They were led by sophomore Mateen Cleaves (16.1 points and 7.2 assists per game) and junior Jason Klein (11.2 points per game). This season marked the first year for all four of MSU's "Flintstones", Cleaves (sophomore), Charlie Bell (freshman), Antonio Smith (junior), and Morris Peterson (sophomore), who would end their careers with a National Championship in 2000.
The Spartans played one ranked team in the non-conference season, No. 7 Temple, and lost 56–54. MSU also suffered surprising losses to UIC and Detroit in non-conference. MSU finished the non-conference season at 7–3.
The Spartans opened the Big Ten season with a win against No. 4 Purdue. Following a loss at No. 17 Michigan, the Spartans won their next eight conference games before losing at eventual Big Ten co-champion, Illinois. In January, MSU entered the AP and Coaches rankings for the first time since the end of the 1994–95 season. The Spartans finished in a tie for the conference championship, their first since 1990, with a record of 13–3 in conference play. The Spartans earned the No. 1 seed in the inaugural Big Ten tournament, but lost their first game in the quarterfinals to Minnesota.
The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 4 seed in the East Region, their first trip to the Tournament since 1995. MSU advanced to their first Sweet Sixteen since 1990 by beating Eastern Michigan and No. 8 Princeton. The Spartans were eliminated from the tournament by No. 1 North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen.
As of 2023, no MSU team has failed to make the NCAA tournament, a streak which began with the 1997–98 team.

## Roster and statistics

1997–98 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Class | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 14 | Charlie Bell | G | FR | 6–3 | 9.2 | 4.4 | 1.3 |
| 20 | Steve Cherry | G | FR | 6–6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| 12 | Mateen Cleaves | G | SO | 6–2 | 16.1 | 2.5 | 7.2 |
| 30 | Doug Davis | G | FR | 6–3 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| 43 | A. J. Granger | F | SO | 6–9 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 0.5 |
| 34 | Andre Hutson | F | FR | 6–8 | 7.5 | 5.2 | 0.8 |
| 44 | Jason Klein | G/F | JR | 6–7 | 11.2 | 3.7 | 1.3 |
| 54 | Ken Miller | C | FR | 6–10 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| 42 | Morris Peterson | F | SO | 6–6 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 0.9 |
| 13 | Antonio Smith | F | JR | 6–8 | 7.9 | 8.7 | 1.1 |
| 11 | David Thomas | F | SO | 6–7 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 0.8 |
| 55 | Dujuan Wiley | C | SR | 6–9 | 6.3 | 3.4 | 0.3 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 11, 1997* 7:30 pm | | Russia Aquarius | W 84–65 | | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 17, 1997* 7:30 pm | | East Tennessee State | W 82–59 | 1–0 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| November 21, 1997* 9:00 pm, ESPN Plus | | at Illinois–Chicago | L 58–70 | 1–1 | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| November 28, 1997* 6:00 pm | | Central Michigan Coca Cola Spartan Classic semifinals | W 89–61 | 2–1 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| November 29, 1997* 8:00 pm | | Gonzaga Coca Cola Spartan Classic championship | W 70–68 | 3–1 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| December 4, 1997* 7:30 pm | | No. 20 Temple | L 54–56 | 3–2 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| December 6, 1997* 7:30 pm | | at Cleveland State | W 85–54 | 4–2 | Wolstein Center Cleveland, OH |
| December 13, 1997* 7:00 pm, ESPN Plus | | Detroit Mercy | L 65–68 | 4–3 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| December 17, 1997* 7:30 pm | | Wright State | W 95–52 | 5–3 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| December 20, 1997* 5:00 pm, ESPN | | at South Florida | W 68–53 | 6–3 | USF Sun Dome Tampa, FL |
| December 27, 1997* 2:00 pm | | Eastern Illinois | W 81–69 | 7–3 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| December 30, 1997 5:00 pm, ESPN Plus | | at No. 5 Purdue | W 74–57 | 8–3 (1–0) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| January 8, 1998 7:30 pm, ESPN | | Wisconsin | W 63–40 | 9–3 (2–0) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| January 10, 1998 2:30 pm, ESPN Plus Regional | | at No. 17 Michigan Rivalry | L 69–79 | 9–4 (2–1) | Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 14, 1998 8:00 pm, ESPN Plus | | at Minnesota | W 74–60 | 10–4 (3–1) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| January 17, 1998 12:15 pm, ESPN Plus Regional | | Illinois | W 68–64 | 11–4 (4–1) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| January 21, 1998 8:00 pm, ESPN Plus | | at No. 10 Iowa | W 78–57 | 12–4 (5–1) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| January 24, 1998 12:15 pm, ESPN Plus Regional | | Penn State | W 71–59 | 13–4 (6–1) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 28, 1998 8:00 pm, ESPN Plus | No. 22 | No. 25 Indiana | W 84–66 | 14–4 (7–1) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| January 31, 1998 8:00 pm, ESPN Plus | No. 22 | at Northwestern | W 72–66 $^{OT}$ | 14–4 (8–1) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| February 4, 1998 8:00 pm, ESPN Plus | No. 16 | at Ohio State | W 84–58 | 16–4 (9–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| February 7, 1998 12:00 pm, ESPN Plus Regional | No. 16 | No. 24 Iowa | W 75–64 | 17–4 (10–1) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| February 12, 1998 8:00 pm, ESPN Plus | No. 13 | at Illinois | L 63–84 | 17–5 (10–2) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| February 14, 1998 8:00 pm, ESPN Plus | No. 10 | Minnesota | W 71–59 | 18–5 (11–2) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| February 17, 1998 7:30 pm, ESPN | No. 14 | No. 22 Michigan Rivalry | W 80-75 | 19–5 (12–2) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| February 21, 1998 2:30 pm, ESPN Plus Regional | No. 14 | at Wisconsin | W 56–47 | 20–5 (13–2) | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| March 1, 1998 2:00 pm, CBS | No. 10 | No. 11 Purdue | L 96–99 $^{OT}$ | 20–6 (13–3) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 6, 1998 | (1) No. 12 | vs. (8) Minnesota quarterfinals | L 73–76 | 20–7 | United Center Chicago, IL |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 12, 1998* , CBS | (4 E) No. 16 | vs. (13 E) Eastern Michigan First Round | W 83–71 | 21–7 | Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT |
| March 14, 1998* , CBS | (4 E) No. 16 | vs. (5 E) No. 8 Princeton Second Round | W 63–56 | 22–7 | Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT |
| March 19, 1998* , CBS | (4 E) No. 16 | vs. (1 E) No. 1 North Carolina Sweet Sixteen | L 58–73 | 22–8 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll, (#) denotes seed within region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | | | | | | | | | | | | 22 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 16 |
Source.

## Awards and honors
### Mateen Cleaves

* Big Ten Player of the Year
* All-American Second Team
* All-Big Ten First Team

### Tom Izzo

* AP Basketball Coach of the Year
* Henry Iba National Coach of the Year
* Basketball News' National Coach of the Year
* Big Ten Coach of the Year (Media and Coaches)

### Antonio Smith

* All-Big Ten Third Team

### Jason Klein

* All-Big Ten Honorable Mention