# 1985–86 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1985–86 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 10th year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 23–8, 12–6 to finish in third place in Big Ten play. The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. As the No. 5 seed in the Midwest region, they defeated Washington and Georgetown to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they lost to No. 1-seeded Kansas. The wins were the first NCAA tournament wins for the Spartans since 1979.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1984–85 season with a record of 19–10, 10–8 to finish in fifth place in Big Ten play. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 10 seed. There they lost to UAB in the first round.

## Roster and statistics

1985–86 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 4 | Scott Skiles | G | SR | 6–1 | 27.4 | 4.4 | 6.5 |
| 13 | Darryl Johnson | G | JR | 6–2 | 16.6 | 3.3 | 4.0 |
| 23 | Vernon Carr | F/G | JR | 6–6 | 13.8 | 5.4 | 0.7 |
| 35 | Larry Polec | F | SR | 6–8 | 10.7 | 5.7 | 1.6 |
| 45 | Carlton Valentine | F | SO | 6–6 | 6.0 | 3.2 | 0.2 |
| 42 | Todd Wolfe | G/F | FR | 6–5 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Ralph Walker | F | SR | 6–8 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 0.4 |
| 40 | Barry Fordham | C/F | JR | 6–8 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 0.4 |
| 24 | Mark Brown | G | FR | 6–0 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| 34 | David Mueller | F/C | FR | 6–9 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| 44 | Scott Sekal | F | FR | 6–8 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| 00 | Keith Hill | G | FR | 6–4 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| 55 | Mario Izzo | C | FR | 6–11 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| 30 | Jim Sarkine | F | FR | 6–9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| 22 | Andre Rison | G | FR | 6–0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 23, 1985* | | Western Illinois | W 98–63 | 1–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Nov 26, 1985* | | Maine | W 89–58 | 2–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 4, 1986* | | Central Michigan Spartan Cutlass Classic semifinals | W 103–60 | 20–6 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Nov 30, 1985* | | Western Michigan Spartan Cutlass Classic championship | W 84–64 | 3–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 4, 1985* | | George Washington | W 87–61 | 4–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 6, 1985* | | Canisius | W 90–61 | 5–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 14, 1985* | | at Iowa State | L 80–82 $^{OT}$ | 5–1 | James H. Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA |
| Dec 21, 1985* | | Illinois-Chicago | W 99–74 | 6–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 27, 1985* | | vs. Massachusetts Lobo Classic semifinals | W 93–45 | 7–1 | The Pit/University Arena Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 28, 1985* | | at New Mexico Lobo Classic championship | W 76–61 | 8–1 | The Pit/University Arena Albuquerque, NM |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 1986 | | at Ohio State | L 73–84 | 8–2 (0–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Jan 5, 1986 | | at No. 15 Indiana | W 77–74 | 9–2 (1–1) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 9, 1986 | | No. 20 Purdue | L 83–88 | 9–3 (1–2) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 12, 1986 | | No. 18 Illinois | W 58–51 | 10–3 (2–2) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 16, 1986 | | at Iowa | L 71–82 | 10–4 (2–3) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| Jan 18, 1986 | | at Minnesota | L 71–76 | 10–5 (2–4) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 25, 1986 | | No. 6 Michigan Rivalry | W 91–79 | 11–5 (3–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 30, 1986 | | Wisconsin | W 83–81 | 12–5 (4–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 1, 1986 | | Northwestern | W 97–69 | 13–5 (5–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 6, 1986 | | at Illinois | W 84–80 | 14–5 (6–4) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Feb 8, 1986 | | at Purdue | L 82–88 | 14–6 (6–5) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 13, 1986 | | Iowa | W 83–73 | 15–6 (7–5) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 15, 1986 | | Minnesota | W 76–66 | 16–6 (8–5) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 20, 1986 | No. 19 | No. 7 Michigan Rivalry | W 74–59 | 17–6 (9–5) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 27, 1986 | No. 17 | at Northwestern | W 82–48 | 18–6 (10–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Mar 2, 1986 | No. 17 | at Wisconsin | W 84–71 | 19–6 (11–5) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Mar 5, 1986 | No. 17 | No. 16 Indiana | L 79–97 | 20–7 (11–6) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 8, 1986 | No. 17 | Ohio State | W 91–81 | 21–7 (12–6) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1986 | (5 MW) No. 18 | vs. (12 MW) Washington First Round | W 72–70 | 22–7 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH |
| Mar 15,1986 | (5 MW) No. 18 | vs. (4 MW) No. 13 Georgetown Second Round | W 80–68 | 23–7 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH |
| Mar 21, 1986 | (5 MW) No. 18 | vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Kansas Sweet Sixteen | L 86–96 $^{OT}$ | 23–8 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Scott Skiles – All-Big Ten First Team