# 1984–85 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1984–85 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1984–85 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 ninth year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 19–10, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place. They received an at-large bid to the newly-expanded, 64-team NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region. It marked the school's first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1979 when they won the championship. There they lost to UAB in the First Round.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1983–84 season with a record of 15–13, 8–10 to finish in a tie for fifth place in Big Ten play.

## Roster and statistics

1984–85 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 11 | Sam Vincent | G | SR | 6–2 | 23.0 | 3.9 | 4.0 |
| 4 | Scott Skiles | G | JR | 6–1 | 17.7 | 3.2 | 5.8 |
| 00 | Ken Johnson | C | SR | 6–8 | 10.8 | 10.2 | 0.6 |
| 35 | Larry Polec | F | SR | 6–8 | 8.7 | 4.4 | 1.0 |
| 13 | Darryl Johnson | G | SO | 6–2 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| 24 | Richard Mudd | F | SR | 6–9 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 0.3 |
| 15 | Ralph Walker | F | JR | 6–8 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 0.4 |
| 45 | Carlton Valentine | F | FR | 6–6 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| 40 | Barry Fordham | F | SO | 6–8 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| 21 | Greg Pedro | G | SO | 6–4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| 20 | Greg Vanek | F | JR | 6–6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 24, 1984* | | at Canisius | W 80–71 | 1–0 | Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, NY |
| Nov 30, 1984* | | Western Michigan Spartan Cutlass Classic Semifinal | W 77–61 | 2–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 1, 1984* | | Army Spartan Cutlass Classic Championship | W 76–64 | 3–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 10, 1984* | | Saint Peter's | W 50–38 | 4–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 12, 1984* | | at Western Illinois | W 93–61 | 5–0 | Western Hall Macomb, IL |
| Dec 15, 1984* | | Missouri | W 79–61 | 6–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 18, 1984* | | at George Washington | W 68–54 | 7–0 | Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 22, 1984* | | at Illinois-Chicago | W 81–60 | 8–0 | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| Dec 28, 1984* | | vs. Boston College Cabrillo Classic Semifinal | L 78–82 | 8–1 | Peterson Gym San Diego, CA |
| Dec 29, 1984* | | at San Diego State Cabrillo Classic Third Place Game | W 77–61 | 9–1 | Peterson Gym San Diego, CA |
| Big 10 regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 1985 | | Ohio State | W 82–79 | 10–1 (1–0) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 5, 1985 | | No. 12 Indiana | W 68–61 | 11–1 (2–0) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 10, 1985 | No. 17 | at Purdue | W 81–72 | 12–1 (3–0) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 12, 1985 | No. 17 | No. 15 Illinois | L 63–75 | 12–2 (3–1) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 17, 1985 | No. 19 | Iowa | L 65–79 | 12–3 (3–2) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 19, 1985 | No. 19 | Minnesota | L 75–81 | 12–4 (3–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 24, 1985 | | at No. 18 Michigan Rivalry | L 75–86 | 12–5 (3–4) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 31, 1985 | | at Wisconsin | W 77–68 | 13–5 (4–4) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Feb 2, 1985 | | at Northwestern | W 68–54 | 14–5 (5–4) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Feb 7, 1985 | | No. 9 Illinois | W 64–56 | 15–5 (6–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 9, 1985 | | Purdue | L 65–66 | 15–6 (6–5) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 13, 1985 | | at Minnesota | L 65–73 | 15–7 (6–6) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Feb 16, 1985 | | at No. 11 Iowa | W 57–55 | 16–7 (7–6) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 21, 1985 | | No. 3 Michigan Rivalry | L 73–75 | 16–8 (7–7) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 27, 1985 | | Northwestern | W 61–47 | 17–8 (8–7) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 2, 1985 | | Wisconsin | W 82–63 | 18–8 (9–7) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 7, 1985 | | at Indiana | W 68–58 | 19–7 (10–7) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Mar 9, 1985 | | at Ohio State | L 79–90 | 19–9 (10–8) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 1985 | (10 MW) | (7 MW) Alabama-Birmingham First Round | L 68–70 | 19–10 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region Source. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Sam Vincent – All-Big Ten First Team