# 1995–96 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1995–96 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Tom Izzo in his first year as head coach after 11 years as an assistant coach. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 16–16, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Washington before losing to Fresno State in the second round.
The season marked the last time, as of 2023, that Michigan State did not finish the season with a winning record.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1994–95 season with a record of 22–6, 14–4 in Big Ten play to finish in second place. Michigan State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Southeast region where they lost to Weber State in the first round.

## Roster and statistics

1995–96 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| Name | Class | Pos | Height | Summary |
| Damion Beathea | SR | F | 6'7" | 5.9 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 1.0 Ast |
| Quinton Brooks | SR | F | 6'7" | 16.3 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 0.6 Ast |
| Jamie Feick | SR | C | 6'9" | 10.1 Pts, 9.5 Reb, 2.3 Ast |
| Jon Garavaglia | JR | F | 6'9" | 5.1 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 1.1 Ast |
| David Hart | SR | G | 6'4" | 0.0 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.5 Ast |
| Thomas Kelley | SO | G | 6'2" | 5.1 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 3.6 Ast |
| Jason Klein | FR | G | 6'7" | 2.1 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.3 Ast |
| Anthony Mull | JR | G | 6'4" | 2.8 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.3 Ast |
| Steve Nicodemus | SR | G | 6'4" | 0.7 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.1 Ast |
| Morris Peterson | FR | F | 6'7" | 0.5 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.5 Ast |
| Steve Polonowski | JR | F | 6'9" | 0.5 Pts, 0.6 Reb, 0.1 Ast |
| Mike Respert | JR | G | 5'11" | 2.4 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.8 Ast |
| Antonio Smith | FR | F | 6'8" | 4.3 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 0.4 Ast |
| Ray Weathers | JR | G | 6'3" | 9.7 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.3 Ast |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 20, 1995* | at Chaminade Maui Invitational Tournament | W 69–66 | 1–0 | Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI |
| Nov 21, 1995* | vs. No. 20 North Carolina Maui Invitational Tournament semifinals | L 70–92 | 1–1 | Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI |
| Nov 22, 1995* | Santa Clara Maui Invitational Tournament third place game | L 71–77 | 1–2 | Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI |
| Nov 28, 1995* | at No. 25 Arkansas Great Eight | W 75–72 | 2–2 | The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, MI |
| Dec 2, 1995* | at No. 18 Louisville | L 59–79 | 2–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Dec 6, 1995* | Evansville | W 67–63 | 3–3 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 10, 1995* | Detroit Mercy | L 61–63 | 3–4 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 16, 1995* | at Kansas State | W 67–64 | 4–4 | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS |
| Dec 18, 1995* | at Oklahoma State | L 57–68 | 4–5 | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK |
| Dec 21, 1995* | East Tennessee State | W 63–57 | 5–5 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 29, 1995* | Central Michigan Oldsmobile Spartan Classic | L 62–69 | 5–6 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 30, 1995* | Idaho State Oldsmobile Spartan Classic | W 68–55 | 6–6 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 1996 | Indiana | W 65–60 | 7–6 (1–0) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 6, 1996 | at No. 13 Illinois | W 68–58 | 8–6 (–0) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 13, 1996 | No. 23 Michigan Rivalry | L 54–76 | 8–7 (2–1) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 17, 1996 | at Wisconsin | L 48–61 | 8–8 (2–2) | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| Jan 20, 1996 | No. 16 Iowa | W 62–60 | 9–8 (3–2) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 24, 1996 | Northwestern | W 68–54 | 10–8 (4–2) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 27, 1996 | at Minnesota | W 68–54 | 11–8 (5–2) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 31, 1996 | No. 10 Penn State | W 61–58 | 12–8 (6–2) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 3, 1996 | at No. 17 Purdue | L 51–56 | 12–9 (6–3) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 7, 1996 | Ohio State | W 55–41 | 13–9 (7–3) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 10, 1996 | at No. 10 Penn State | L 50–54 | 13–10 (7–4) | Rec Hall University Park, PA |
| Feb 14, 1996 | Minnesota | L 63–64 | 13–11 (7–5) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 17, 1996 | at Northwestern | W 75–57 | 14–11 (8–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Feb 21, 1996 | at No. 18 Iowa | L 47–83 | 14–12 (8–6) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 24, 1996 | Wisconsin | L 52–73 | 14–13 (8–7) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 27, 1996 | at Michigan Rivalry | L 46–75 | 14–14 (8–8) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Mar 6, 1996 | Illinois | W 77–67 | 15–14 (9–8) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 10, 1996 | at Indiana | L 53–57 | 15–15 (9–9) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| NIT ||||||
| Mar 12, 1996* | Washington first round | W 64–50 | 16–15 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 19, 1996* | at Fresno State second round | L 63–68 | 16–16 | Selland Arena Fresno, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll, (#) denotes seed within region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source. ||||||