# 1977–78 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1977–78 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1977–78 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 second-year head coach, Jud Heathcote. MSU finished the season 25–5, 15–3 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten Championship. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Providence and Western Kentucky before losing to Kentucky in the Mideast Regional Final. The team was led by freshman Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Gregory Kelser.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1976–77 season with a record of 10–17, 7–11 to finish in fifth place in Big Ten play.

## Roster and stats

1977–78 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 32 | Gregory Kelser | F | JR | 6–7 | 17.7 | 9.1 | 1.3 |
| 33 | Earvin Johnson | F | FR | 6–8 | 17.0 | 7.9 | 7.4 |
| 44 | Robert Chapman | G | SR | 6–2 | 12.3 | 2.7 | 2.0 |
| 31 | Jay Vincent | C | FR | 6–8 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 1.0 |
| 15 | Ron Charles | F | SO | 6–7 | 6.3 | 1.4 | 0.3 |
| 11 | Terry Donnelly | G | SO | 6–2 | 6.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| 12 | Mike Brkovich | G | FR | 6–4 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| 43 | Sten Feidrech | C | FR | 7–0 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.4 |
| 45 | James Couture | C | SR | 6–9 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| 25 | Alfred Brown | G | SR | 6–6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 |
| 24 | Len Williams | G | SO | 6–0 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| 21 | Donald Flowers | G | SR | 6–2 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| 41 | Dan Riewald | G | SR | 6–5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| 22 | Nate Philips | G | SR | 6–4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| 23 | Mike Longaker | G | SO | 6–1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 42 | Rick Kaye | G | FR | 6–7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 28, 1977* | | Central Michigan | W 68–61 | 1–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec. 2, 1977* | | vs. Rhode Island Carrier Classic | W 92–64 | 2–0 | Manley Field House Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 3, 1977* | | at No. 12 Syracuse Carrier Classic | L 67–75 | 2–1 | Manley Field House Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 8, 1977* | | Wichita State | W 84–57 | 3–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 10, 1977* | | Western Michigan | W 79–57 | 4–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 19, 1977* | | Middle Tennessee | W 72–51 | 5–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 21, 1977* | | at No. 15 Detroit Mercy | W 103–74 | 6–1 | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Dec 29, 1977* | | vs. SMU Old Dominion Classic semifinal | W 95–69 | 7–1 | Norfolk Scope Norfolk, VA |
| Dec 30, 1977* | | vs. New Hampshire Old Dominion Classic championship | W 102–65 | 8–1 | Norfolk Scope Norfolk, VA |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 5, 1978 | No. 18 | Minnesota | W 87–83 | 9–1 (1–0) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 7, 1978 | No. 18 | at Wisconsin | W 74–63 | 10–1 (2–0) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 12, 1978 | No. 12 | at Illinois | W 82–70 | 11–1 (3–0) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 14, 1978 | No. 12 | Northwestern | W 67–63 | 12–1 (4–0) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 19, 1978 | No. 10 | Purdue | W 60–51 | 13–1 (5–0) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 21, 1978 | No. 10 | Iowa | W 68–58 | 14–1 (6–0) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 26, 1978 | No. 7 | at Ohio State | W 70–60 | 15–1 (7–0) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Jan 28, 1978 | No. 7 | at Indiana | L 58–59 | 15–2 (7–1) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Feb 2, 1979 | No. 7 | Michigan Rivalry | L 63–65 | 15–3 (7–2) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 4, 1978 | No. 10 | Indiana | W 68–59 | 16–3 (8–2) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 9, 1978 | No. 10 | at Iowa | W 71–70 | 17–3 (9–2) | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 11, 1978 | No. 10 | at Michigan Rivalry | W 73–62 | 18–3 (10–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 16, 1978 | No. 10 | at Purdue | L 80–99 | 18–4 (10–3) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 18, 1978 | No. 10 | Ohio State | W 66–56 | 19–4 (11–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 23, 1978 | No. 10 | Northwestern | W 66–56 | 20–4 (12–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 25, 1978 | No. 10 | Illinois | W 89–67 | 21–4 (13–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 2, 1978 | No. 9 | at Wisconsin | W 89–75 | 22–4 (14–3) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Mar 4, 1978 | No. 9 | at Minnesota | W 71–70 | 23–4 (15–3) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 1978* | No. 6 | vs. Providence First Round | W 77–63 | 24–4 | Market Square Arena Indianapolis, IN |
| Mar 16, 1978* | No. 4 | vs. Western Kentucky Sweet Sixteen | W 90–69 | 25–4 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH |
| Mar 18, 1978* | No. 4 | vs. No. 1 Kentucky Elite Eight | L 49–52 | 25–5 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=MidEast Region. Source ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Earvin "Magic" Johnson – All-Big Ten First Team