# 1970–71 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1970–71 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1970–71 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 Gus Ganakas in his second year as head coach of the Spartans. They finished the season 10–14, 4–10 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1969–70 season 9–15, 5–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place.

## Roster and statistics

1970–71 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb |
| 10 | Brad VanPelt | F | SO | 6–5 | 4.5 | 2.9 |
| 11 | Gary Ganakas | G | SO | 5–5 | 2.1 | 0.9 |
| 13 | Gary Przybylo | G | JR | 6–0 | 0.3 | – |
| 14 | Johnnie Brown | G | JR | 6–1 | 0.6 | – |
| 21 | Rudy Benjamin | G | SR | 6–2 | 21.7 | 4.0 |
| 22 | Bill Kilgore | C | SO | 6–7 | 14.2 | 12.9 |
| 24 | Ron Gutkowski | F | JR | 6–6 | 7.3 | 3.5 |
| 25 | Larry Ike | F | SO | 6–3 | 0.6 | – |
| 31 | Eddie Humphrey | G | SR | 6–2 | 2.0 | – |
| 32 | Jeff VanderLende | F | SO | 6–7 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
| 33 | Paul Dean | F | SR | 6–1 | 4.6 | 2.0 |
| 35 | Pat Miller | G | JR | 6–2 | 11.3 | 5.2 |
| 42 | Brian Breslin | F | SO | 6–5 | 7.8 | 4.0 |
| 43 | Jim Shereda | C | SO | 6–7 | 1.3 | – |
| 45 | William Cohrs | C | JR | 6–6 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1970* | Northern Illinois | L 75–76 | 0–1 | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 5, 1970* | at Toledo | W 72–62 | 1–1 | The Field House Toledo, OH |
| Dec 12, 1970* | Western Michigan | W 97–85 | 2–1 | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 14, 1970* | Butler | W 99–75 | 3–1 | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 18, 1970* | at New Mexico Lobo Invitational semifinals | W 73–69 | 4–1 | The Pit/Bob King Court Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 19, 1970* | vs. Rutgers Lobo Invitational championship | W 81–71 | 5–1 | The Pit/Bob King Court Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 22, 1970* | Central Michigan | W 85–74 | 6–1 | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 29, 1970* | at No. 4 USC Trojan Invitational semifinals | L 63–88 | 6–2 | Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec 30, 1970* | vs. No. 10 Tennessee Trojan Invitational third place game | L 70–81 | 6–3 | Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| Jan 9, 1971 | at Illinois | L 69–89 | 6–4 (0–1) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 12, 1971 | Iowa | W 84–81 | 7–4 (1–1) | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 16, 1971 | Illinois | L 67–69 | 7–5 (1–2) | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 26, 1971* | at No. 7 Notre Dame | L 80–104 | 7–6 | Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center South Bend, IN |
| Jan 30, 1971 | at Ohio State | W 82–70 | 8–6 (2–2) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 6, 1971 | Ohio State | L 76–87 | 8–7 (2–3) | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 9, 1971 | Indiana | L 70–71 | 8–8 (2–4) | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 13, 1971 | at Minnesota | L 86–97 | 8–9 (2–5) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Feb 16, 1971 | at Indiana | L 76–90 | 8–10 (2–6) | Gladstein Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN |
| Feb 20, 1971 | Wisconsin | W 97–78 | 9–10 (3–6) | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 27, 1971 | at Purdue | L 70–100 | 9–11 (3–7) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Mar 2, 1971 | Purdue | L 60–65 | 9–12 (3–8) | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 6, 1971 | at Michigan | L 63–88 | 9–13 (3–9) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Mar 9, 1971 | Minnesota | W 73–71 | 10–13 (4–9) | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 13, 1971 | at Northwestern | L 67–85 | 10–14 (4–10) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. Source ||||||