# 1989–90 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1989–90 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at newly-opened Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his 14th year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 28–6, 15–3 to win the Big Ten championship by two games. As the No. 3-ranked team in the country, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Southeast region. In the first round, they narrowly avoided becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose a No. 16 seed, beating Murray State in overtime. They then defeated UC Santa Barbara in the second round to earn a trip to the Sweet Sixteen, their first trip since 1986. There they lost in overtime to Georgia Tech.
Ken Redfield was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1988–89 season 18–15, 6–12 to finish in eighth place in Big Ten play. Michigan State received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. There the Spartans beat Kent State, Wichita State, and Villanova to reach the final four at Madison Square Garden. In the semifinals, they lost to Saint Louis before losing to UAB in the third-place game.

## Season summary

The Spartans were led by junior Steve Smith (20.2 points and 7.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game), senior Kirk Manns (15.5 points per game), and Ken Redfield (11.6 points per game). The team also featured sophomore Mark Montgomery and freshman Dwayne Stephens who would both later become assistant coaches at Michigan State under Tom Izzo.
MSU began their season by traveling to Alaska to participate in the Great Alaska Shootout. There, they defeated Auburn, Texas A&M, and Kansas State to capture the Shootout championship. They suffered their first loss of the season at UIC after being ranked for the first time that season. Two games later, the Spartans lost at Breslin Center to Bowling Green. They finished their non-conference schedule with an 11–2 record.
Michigan State started the Big Ten season 3–0 before losing to No. 7 Illinois on the road. In a four-game stretch against ranked teams, the Spartans defeated No. 12 Indiana in Bloomington, but lost to rival No. 7 Michigan at home. A loss to No. 19 Minnesota preceded a win over No. 8 Purdue and left the Spartans at 6–3 in the Big Ten. Following the victory over Purdue, MSU entered the AP rankings at No. 23. The Spartans won their remaining nine games to finish the season on a 10-game winning streak. The streak included wins over No. 15 Illinois, No. 25 Indiana, No. 8 Michigan, No. 17 Minnesota, and No. 10 Purdue in a six-game stretch. The finish gave the Spartans the Big Ten championship by two games over Purdue with a 15–3 record and they finished the season ranked No. 3 in the country.
The Spartans received the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed. In the Tournament, the Spartans narrowly defeated 16th-seeded Murray State, led by Popeye Jones, in overtime to avoid becoming the only No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed. They again narrowly defeated ninth-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the second round by four points to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1986. In the Sweet Sixteen, the Spartans 12-game winning streak came to end as they lost to fourth-seeded Georgia Tech. The game featured a controversial last second basket by Tech's Kenny Anderson to force overtime where the Spartans fell 80–81.

## Roster and statistics

1989–90 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 22 | Jeff Casler | G | JR | 6–0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| 23 | Jesse Hall | G | JR | 6–3 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| 10 | Kirk Manns | G | SR | 6–1 | 15.3 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| 11 | Mark Montgomery | G | SO | 6–2 | 3.6 | 2.0 | 2.9 |
| 34 | Dave Mueller | C | SR | 6–9 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| 54 | Mike Peplowski | C | FR | 6–10 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 0.7 |
| 20 | Ken Redfield | F | SR | 6–7 | 11.6 | 6.8 | 3.1 |
| 21 | Steve Smith | G | JR | 6–6 | 20.2 | 7.0 | 4.8 |
| 35 | Matt Steigenga | F | SO | 6–7 | 10.4 | 3.5 | 1.9 |
| 31 | Dwayne Stephens | F | FR | 6–7 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 0.8 |
| 24 | Todd Wolfe | G | SR | 6–5 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 |
| 25 | Jon Zulauf | F | FR | 6–6 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 24, 1989* | | vs. Auburn Great Alaska Shootout | W 92–79 | 1–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK |
| Nov 25, 1989* | | vs. Texas A&M Great Alaska Shootout semifinals | W 87–75 | 2–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK |
| Nov 27, 1989* | | vs. Kansas State Great Alaska Shootout championship | W 73–68 | 3–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK |
| Nov 29, 1989* | | Nebraska | W 80–69 | 4–0 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 2, 1989* | | at Furman | W 84–63 | 5–0 | Memorial Auditorium Greenville, SC |
| Dec 9, 1989* | | Austin Peay | W 88–76 | 6–0 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 12, 1989* | No. 25 | at UIC | L 57–65 | 6–1 | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| Dec 16, 1989* | No. 25 | Detroit Mercy | W 94–65 | 7–1 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 18, 1989* | No. 25 | Bowling Green State | L 79–81 | 7–2 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 20, 1989* | No. 25 | at Evansville | W 80–66 | 8–2 | Roberts Stadium Evansville, IN |
| Dec 23, 1989* | No. 25 | Eastern Michigan | W 87–73 | 9–2 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 29, 1989* | | San Jose State Oldsmobile Spartan Classic semifinals | W 88–61 | 10–2 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 30, 1989* | | Princeton Oldsmobile Spartan Classic championship | W 51–49 | 11–2 | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 6, 1990 | | at Wisconsin | W 64–61 | 12–2 (1–0) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Jan 11, 1990 | | Ohio State | W 78–68 | 13–2 (2–0) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 13, 1990 | | Iowa | W 87–80 | 14–2 (3–0) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 18, 1990 | | at No. 7 Illinois | L 64–73 | 14–3 (3–1) | Assembly Hall (Illinois) Champaign, IL |
| Jan 20, 1990 | | Northwestern | W 91–80 | 15–3 (4–1) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 24, 1990 | | at No. 12 Indiana | W 75–57 | 16–3 (5–1) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 27, 1990 | | at No. 7 Michigan Rivalry | L 63–65 | 16–4 (5–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 1, 1990 | | No. 19 Minnesota | L 74–79 | 16–5 (5–3) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 3, 1990 | | at No. 8 Purdue | W 64–53 | 17–5 (6–3) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 8, 1990 | No. 23 | Wisconsin | W 60–57 | 18–5 (7–3) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 10, 1990 | No. 25 | at Ohio State | W 84–75 | 19–5 (8–3) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 12, 1990 | No. 23 | at Iowa | W 80–70 | 20–5 (9–3) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 17, 1990 | No. 21 | No. 15 Illinois | W 70–63 | 21–6 (10–3) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 25, 1990 | No. 15 | No. 25 Indiana | W 72–66 | 22–6 (11–3) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 1, 1990 | No. 14 | No. 8 Michigan Rivalry | W 78–70 | 23–5 (12–3) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 3, 1990 | No. 14 | at No. 17 Minnesota | W 75–73 | 24–5 (13–3) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Mar 8, 1990 | No. 7 | at Northwestern | W 84–68 | 25–5 (14–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Mar 11, 1990 | No. 7 | No. 10 Purdue | W 72–70 | 26–5 (15–3) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 1990* | (1 SE) No. 3 | vs. (16 SE) Murray State First Round | W 75–71 $^{OT}$ | 27–5 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN |
| Mar 17, 1990* | (1 SE) No. 3 | vs. (9 SE) UC-Santa Barbara Second Round | W 62–58 | 28–5 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN |
| Mar 23, 1990* | (1 SE) No. 3 | vs. (4 SE) No. 9 Georgia Tech Sweet Sixteen | L 80–81 $^{OT}$ | 28–6 | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 |
| AP | NR | NR | NR | 25 | 25 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 23 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 7 | 3 |
Source.

## Awards and honors

* Steve Smith – All-Big Ten First Team