# 1976–77 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1976–77 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by Jud Heathcote in his first year as head coach of the Spartans. MSU finished the season 10–17, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place.
Due to forfeits related to NCAA sanctions to Minnesota for improper selling of tickets, MSU's official record for the season is 12–15, 9–9.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1975–76 season 14–13, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. The season marked the last season for Gus Ganakas as Spartan head coach.

## Roster and statistics

1976–77 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb |
| 12 | Terry Donnelly | G | FR | 6–2 | 7.9 | 1.9 |
| 15 | Ron Charles | F | FR | 6–7 | 2.5 | 1.9 |
| 21 | Donald Flowers | G | JR | 6–1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 22 | Nate Phillips | G | JR | 6–4 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 23 | Kevin Vandenbussche | G | SR | 6–4 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| 24 | Herbert Drayton | G | SR | 6–4 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| 25 | Alfred Brown | F | SO | 6–6 | 1.3 | 1.6 |
| 32 | Greg Kelser | F | SO | 6–5 | 21.7 | 10.8 |
| 33 | Edgar Wilson | F | SR | 6–5 | 9.2 | 4.7 |
| 34 | Ricky Nash | F | JR | 6–4 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| 41 | Dan Riewald | F | SR | 6–5 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| 42 | Tanya Webb | C | SO | 6–7 | 3.9 | 3.1 |
| 44 | Robert Chapman | G | SR | 6–2 | 5.9 | 3.1 |
| 45 | James Coutre | C | JR | 6–9 | 5.9 | 5.4 |
| 52 | Les DeYoung | C | JR | 6–9 | | |
| | Mike Longaker | G | FR | 6–1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 29, 1976* | at Central Michigan | L 76–81 | 0–1 | Rose Arena Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Dec 4, 1976* | Western Michigan | L 73–74 | 0–2 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 6, 1976* | No. 9 North Carolina | L 58–81 | 0–3 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 11, 1976* | Eastern Michigan | W 54–52 $^{OT}$ | 1–3 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 15* | Detroit Mercy | L 94–99 | 1–4 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 18, 1976* | at Canisius | W 82–59 | 2–4 | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, NY |
| Dec 18, 1976* | NC State | W 78–60 | 3–4 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 29, 1976* | vs. Holy Cross Gator Bowl Tournament semifinals | L 61–70 | 3–5 | Swisher Gymnasium Jacksonville, FL |
| Dec 30, 1976* | vs. Jacksonville Gator Bowl Tournament third place game | L 63–65 | 3–6 | Swisher Gymnasium Jacksonville, FL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan. 6, 1977 | Wisconsin | W 84–61 | 4–6 (1–0) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 8, 1977 | Northwestern | L 68–70 | 4–7 (1–1) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 15, 1977 | No. 6 Michigan Rivalry | L 70–83 | 4–8 (1–2) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 17, 1977 | at Indiana | W 61–60 | 5–8 (2–2) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 20, 1977 | Illinois | W 67–58 | 6–8 (3–2) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 22, 1977 | No. 19 Purdue | L 70–76 | 6–9 (3–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 24, 1977 | at No. 11 Minnesota | L 70–75 | 6–10 (3–4) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 27, 1977 | at Northwestern | L 58–66 | 6–11 (3–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 29, 1977 | at Wisconsin | L 83–87 | 6–12 (3–6) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Feb 5, 1977 | Indiana | L 79–81 | 6–13 (3–7) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 7, 1977 | at Iowa | L 79–87 | 6–14 (3–8) | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 12, 1977 | at Ohio State | W 71–67 | 7–14 (4–8) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 17, 1977 | No. 12 Minnesota | L 77–99 | 7–15 (4–9) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 19, 1977 | Iowa | W 81–79 | 8–15 (5–9) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 26, 1977 | at No. 3 Michigan Rivalry | L 65–69 | 8–16 (5–10) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 28, 1977 | Ohio State | W 80–79 | 9–16 (6–10) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 3, 1977 | at Purdue | L 69–78 | 9–17 (6–11) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Mar 5, 1977 | at Illinois | W 62–61 | 10–17 (7–11) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. Source ||||||