# 1974–75 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1974–75 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1974–75 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 sixth year as head coach of the Spartans. MSU finished the season 17–9, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1973–74 season 13–11, 8–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fourth place.

## Player walk-out

The season stands as one of the ugliest moments in MSU athletics history as 10 players, led by captain Lindsay Hairston, followed by Bob Chapman, Pete Davis, Terry Furlow, Bill Glover, Thomas McGill, Cedric Milton, Lovelle Rivers, Benny White and Edgar Wilson, walked out of a team meeting before their game against Indiana on January 4, 1975. At the time, it was assumed that the players were objecting to the fact that freshman Jeff Tropf, who was white, was starting over more experienced black players. Later, more complaints came to light including the arena being too cold during practice due to construction and the school's lack of emphasis on basketball. When the players returned an hour before game time, head coach Gus Ganakas suspended the players.
As a result, the team fielded junior varsity players and Tropf for the game against Indiana and were blown out 107–55. The next day, the suspended players aired their grievances with Ganakas, apologized, and were reinstated to the team. Tropf left the school after the season.

## Roster and statistics

1974–75 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb |
| 12 | William Glover | G | SR | 6–2 | 12.0 | 1.4 |
| 22 | Lovelle Rivers | F | SR | 6–5 | 0.8 | |
| 23 | Benny White | G | JR | 5–9 | 6.8 | 1.7 |
| 24 | Cedric Milton | C | JR | 6–9 | 2.3 | 2.6 |
| 25 | Terry Furlow | F | JR | 6–5 | 20.4 | 6.8 |
| 32 | Peter Davis | G | SR | 6–1 | 9.0 | 0.8 |
| 33 | Edgar Wilson | F | SO | 6–5 | 3.4 | 2.6 |
| 41 | Thomas McGill | F | SR | 6–4 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
| 42 | James Dudley | F | FR | 6–5 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| 44 | Robert Chapman | G | SO | 6–2 | 4.4 | 1.3 |
| 45 | Lindsay Hairston | C | SR | 6–7 | 19.3 | 11.5 |
| 52 | Jeffrey Tropf | C | FR | 6–7 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
| | Dave Jackson | | | | | |
| | Mark Talaga | | | | | |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Dec 2, 1974* | Central Michigan | W 82–78 | 1–0 | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 7, 1974* | Eastern Michigan | W 92–60 | 2–0 | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 14, 1974* | Western Michigan | W 62–59 | 3–0 | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 20, 1974* | at San Francisco Cable Car Classic semifinals | W 86–78 | 4–0 | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, CA |
| Dec 21, 1974* | vs. Long Beach State Cable Car Classic final | L 62–74 | 4–1 | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, CA |
| Dec 23, 1974* | at Detroit Mercy | W 72–69 | 5–1 | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Jan 2, 1975 | at No. 18 Purdue | L 86–93 | 5–2 (0–1) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 4, 1975 | No. 2 Indiana | L 55–107 | 5–3 (0–2) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 6, 1975 | Ohio State | W 88–84 | 6–3 (1–2) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 11, 1975 | No. 11 Michigan Rivalry | W 86–78 | 7–3 (2–2) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 18, 1975 | at No. 16 Minnesota | L 71–82 | 7–4 (2–3) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 20, 1975 | at Iowa | L 79–83 | 7–5 (2–4) | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| Jan 25, 1975 | Wisconsin | W 105–87 | 8–5 (3–4) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 27, 1975 | Northwestern | W 54–50 | 9–5 (4–4) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 1, 1975 | at Illinois | W 75–60 | 10–5 (5–4) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Feb 3, 1975 | at Ohio State | W 101–83 | 11–5 (6–4) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 5, 1975* | at No. 14 Notre Dame | W 76–73 | 12–5 | Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center South Bend, IN |
| Feb 8, 1975 | at Michigan Rivalry | L 84–96 | 12–6 (6–5) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 15, 1975 | Minnesota | W 86–81 | 13–6 (7–5) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 17, 1975 | Iowa | W 90–78 | 14–6 (8–5) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 22, 1975 | at Wisconsin | L 96–103 | 14–7 (8–6) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Feb 24, 1975 | at Northwestern | L 66–67 | 14–8 (8–7) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Mar 1, 1975 | Illinois | W 96–82 | 15–8 (9–7) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 3, 1975 | Purdue | W 84–82 | 16–8 (10–7) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 8, 1975 | at No. 1 Indiana | L 79–94 | 16–9 (10–8) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. Source ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Terry Furlow – All-Big Ten First Team
* Terry Furlow – Big Ten Scoring Champion (20.2 ppg in-conference)
* Lindsay Hairston – All-Big Ten First Team