# 1988–89 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1988–89 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1988–89 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 13th year at Michigan State. This season marked the Spartans' final season of basketball at Jenison Fieldhouse before moving to their current venue, the Breslin Center, the following season. The Spartans finished the season 18–15, 6–12 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. Michigan State received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they beat Kent State, Wichita State, and Villanova to reach the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. In the semifinals, they lost to Saint Louis. In the third place game, they lost to UAB in overtime.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1987–88 season with an overall record of 10–18, 5–13 to finish in eighth place in Big Ten play.

## Roster and statistics

1988–89 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 22 | Jeff Casler | G | SO | 6–0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| 23 | Jesse Hall | G | SO | 6–3 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 |
| 42 | Parish Hickman | F | FR | 6–7 | 5.1 | 3.2 | 0.4 |
| 10 | Kirk Manns | G | JR | 6–1 | 11.5 | 0.6 | 1.0 |
| 11 | Mark Montgomery | G | FR | 6–2 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 3.0 |
| 34 | David Mueller | F | JR | 6–9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| 20 | Ken Redfield | F | JR | 6–7 | 14.3 | 6.6 | 4.0 |
| 30 | Jim Sarkine | F | SR | 6–9 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| 21 | Steve Smith | G | SO | 6–6 | 17.9 | 7.2 | 3.3 |
| 35 | Matt Steigenga | F | FR | 6–7 | 9.0 | 4.6 | 1.4 |
| 44 | Scott Sekal | F | SR | 6–8 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
| 24 | Todd Wolfe | G/F | SR | 6–5 | 8.1 | 3.0 | 1.1 |
| 25 | Jon Zulauf | F | FR | 6–7 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 28, 1988* | Furman | W 98–68 | 1–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Nov 30, 1988* | at Nebraska | W 77–75 | 2–0 | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, NE |
| Dec 10, 1988* | Bowling Green State | W 89–72 | 3–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 13, 1988* | UIC | W 96–74 | 4–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 15, 1988* | at Detroit Mercy | W 96–74 | 5–0 | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Dec 16, 1988* | Bowling Green State | W 89–72 | 6–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 17, 1988* | Austin Peay | W 70–60 | 7–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 22, 1988* | Eastern Michigan | W 91–76 | 8–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 27, 1988* | vs. Colorado Far West Classic quarterfinals | W 60–57 | 9–0 | Memorial Coliseum Portland, OR |
| Dec 28, 1988* | vs. Oregon State Far West Classic semifinals | L 58–63 | 9–1 | Memorial Coliseum Portland, OR |
| Dec 29, 1988* | vs. Oregon Far West Classic third place game | W 76–61 | 10–1 | Memorial Coliseum Portland, OR |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 5, 1989 | No. 9 Iowa | L 82–93 | 10–2 (0–1) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 7, 1989 | at No. 3 Illinois | L 54–71 | 10–3 (0–2) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 11, 1989 | at Northwestern | W 64–62 | 11–3 (1–2) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 14, 1989 | No. 18 Ohio State | L 81–83 | 11–4 (1–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 21, 1989 | at No. 19 Indiana | L 60–75 | 11–5 (1–4) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 25, 1989 | Purdue | W 106–83 | 12–5 (2–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 28, 1989 | Minnesota | W 73–64 | 13–5 (3–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 2, 1989 | at Wisconsin | L 64–69 | 13–6 (3–5) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Feb 4, 1989 | at No. 11 Michigan Rivalry | L 66–82 | 13–7 (3–6) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 11, 1989 | at No. 16 Ohio State | L 75–81 | 13–8 (3–7) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 16, 1989 | No. 5 Illinois | L 56–75 | 13–9 (3–8) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 18, 1989 | at Purdue | L 65–76 | 13–10 (3–9) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 23, 1989 | No. 4 Indiana | L 65–76 | 13–11 (3–10) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 25, 1989 | Northwestern | W 80–65 | 14–11 (4–10) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 27, 1989 | No. 13 Michigan Rivalry | L 52–79 | 14–12 (4–11) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 2, 1989 | at No. 11 Iowa | W 83–81 | 15–12 (5–11) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| Mar 8, 1989 | at Minnesota | L 61–77 | 15–13 (5–12) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Mar 11, 1989 | Wisconsin | W 70–61 | 16–13 (6–12) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| NIT ||||||
| Mar 16, 1989* | Kent State first round | W 83–69 | 17–13 | Cobo Arena Detroit, MI |
| Mar 20, 1989* | Wichita State second round | W 79–67 | 18–13 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 22, 1989* | at Villanova quarterfinals | W 70–63 | 19–13 | The Pavilion Villanova, PA |
| Mar 27, 1989* | vs. Saint Louis semifinals | L 64–74 | 19–14 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| Mar 30, 1989* | vs. UAB third place game | L 76–78 $^{OT}$ | 19–15 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source. ||||||