# 1987–88 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1987–88 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 12th year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with an overall record of 10–18, 5–13 to finish in eighth place in Big Ten play.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1987–88 season with an overall record of 11–17, 6–12 to finish in seventh place in Big Ten play.

## Roster and statistics

1987–88 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 45 | Carlton Valentine | F | SR | 6–5 | 13.3 | 5.6 | 1.5 |
| 20 | Ken Redfield | F | SO | 6–7 | 11.7 | 5.1 | 2.3 |
| 21 | Steve Smith | G/F | FR | 6–6 | 10.7 | 4.0 | 2.9 |
| 41 | George Papadakos | C | SR | 7–0 | 10.1 | 5.7 | 0.6 |
| 35 | Ed Wright | G/F | SR | 6–6 | 6.2 | 1.8 | 3.3 |
| 10 | Kirk Manns | G | SO | 6–1 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 0.5 |
| 24 | Todd Wolfe | G | JR | 6–5 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 0.8 |
| 43 | Bobby Worthington | F | SR | 6–7 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 0.5 |
| 23 | Jesse Hall | G | FR | 6–3 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| 44 | Scott Sekal | F | SR | 6–8 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| 22 | Andre Rison | G | JR | 6–0 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 2.3 |
| 55 | Mario Izzo | C | SR | 6–11 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 34 | David Mueller | F/C | SO | 6–9 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| 30 | Jim Sarkine | F | SR | 6–9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 27, 1987* | Detroit Mercy | W 65–63 | 1–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 2, 1987* | Maine | W 87–44 | 2–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 5, 1987* | George Washington | L 64–65 | 2–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 12, 1987* | TCU | W 69–52 | 3–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 15, 1987* | Illinois-Chicago | W 78–64 | 4–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 17, 1987* | at Eastern Michigan | L 80–84 $^{OT}$ | 4–2 | Bowen Field House Ypsilanti, MI |
| Dec 19, 1987* | at Austin Peay | L 77–85 | 4–3 | Winfield Dunn Center Clarksville, TN |
| Dec 22, 1987* | San Jose State | W 82–68 | 5–3 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 29, 1987* | at No. 1 Arizona Fiesta Basketball Classic semifinals | L 58–78 | 5–4 | McKale Center Tucson, AZ |
| Dec 30, 1987* | vs. No. 8 Florida Fiesta Basketball Classic third place game | L 59–83 | 5–5 | McKale Center Tucson, AZ |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 7, 1988 | at Wisconsin | L 72–78 $^{2OT}$ | 5–6 (0–1) | Wisconsin Field House (6,743) Madison, WI |
| Jan 9, 1988 | at No. 19 Illinois | L 62–77 | 5–7 (0–2) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 14, 1988 | No. 10 Michigan Rivlary | L 72–90 | 5–8 (0–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 16, 1988 | No. 15 Indiana | W 75–74 $^{OT}$ | 6–8 (1–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 20, 1988 | at No. 5 Purdue | L 67–68 | 6–9 (1–4) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 27, 1988 | Minnesota | L 56–59 | 6–10 (1–5) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 1, 1988 | Ohio State | W 76–64 | 7–10 (2–5) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 4, 1988 | at Northwestern | W 65–64 | 8–10 (3–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Feb 6, 1988 | at No. 13 Iowa | L 77–101 | 8–11 (3–6) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 10, 1988 | No. 2 Purdue | L 70–72 | 8–12 (3–7) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 13, 1988 | Illinois | L 65–83 | 8–13 (3–8) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 18, 1988 | at Indiana | L 58–95 | 8–14 (3–9) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Feb 22, 1988 | at No. 10 Michigan Rivalry | L 67–77 | 8–15 (3–10) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 27, 1988 | at Ohio State | W 78–77 | 9–15 (4–10) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Mar 3, 1988 | No. 11 Iowa | L 87–103 | 9–16 (4–11) | Jenison Field House (8,777) East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 5, 1988 | at Minnesota | L 61–62 | 9–17 (4–12) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Mar 10, 1988 | Northwestern | W 55–53 | 10–17 (5–12) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 12, 1988 | Wisconsin | L 69–71 | 10–18 (5–13) | Jenison Field House (8,158) East Lansing, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||