# 1975–76 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1975–76 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1975–76 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 seventh and final year as head coach of the Spartans. MSU finished the season 14–13, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place.
Ganakas was fired as head coach after the season due, in part to the walk-out of black players in 1975 and as part of an athletic department purge. Ganakas would continue as an assistant athletic director for MSU until 1998.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1974–75 season 17–9, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place.

## Roster and statistics

1975–76 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 12 | Milt Wiley | G | FR | 5–11 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| 15 | Kevin Vandenbussche | G | JR | 6–4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| 21 | Paul Stoll | G | JR | 6–2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 22 | Lovelle Rivers | C | SR | 6–5 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 0.3 |
| 23 | Benny White | G | SR | 5–9 | 6.3 | 1.9 | 3.9 |
| 24 | Cedric Milton | C | SR | 6–9 | 6.5 | 5.3 | 0.8 |
| 25 | Terry Furlow | F | SR | 6–5 | 29.4 | 7.7 | 3.2 |
| 32 | Greg Kelser | F | FR | 6–6 | 11.7 | 9.5 | 1.2 |
| 33 | Edgar Wilson | F | JR | 6–5 | 7.7 | 5.4 | 1.6 |
| 34 | Ricky Nash | F | SO | 6–4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.1 |
| 41 | Dan Riewald | F | JR | 6–5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
| 42 | Tanya Webb | F | FR | 6–8 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| 44 | Robert Chapman | G | JR | 6–2 | 14.6 | 3.5 | 2.0 |
| 45 | David Jordan | F | SO | 6–5 | | | |
| 52 | Patrick Holewinski | C | SR | 6–10 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1975* | Central Michigan | W 69–61 | 1–0 | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 6, 1975* | at Eastern Michigan | L 79–85 | 1–1 | Bowen Field House Ypsilanti, MI |
| Dec 8, 1975* | Canisius | W 83–68 | 2–1 | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 13, 1975* | at Western Michigan | L 68–78 | 2–2 | University Arena Kalamazoo, MI |
| Dec 20, 1975* | at No. 9 NC State | L 75–84 | 2–3 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Dec 22, 1975* | at Detroit Mercy | L 82–85 | 2–4 | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Dec 29, 1975* | vs. Southern Miss VCU Invitational semifinals | W 89–77 | 3–4 | Franklin Street Gym Richmond, VA |
| Dec 30, 1975* | at VCU VCU Invitational championship | L 75–80 | 3–5 | Franklin Street Gym Richmond, VA |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 1976 | at Wisconsin | L 63–70 | 3–6 (0–1) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Jan 5, 1976 | Iowa | W 105–88 | 4–6 (1–1) | Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 8, 1976 | at Northwestern | L 89–105 | 4–7 (1–2) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 10, 1976 | Ohio State | W 92–82 | 5–7 (2–2) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 12, 1976 | No. 1 Indiana | L 57–69 | 5–8 (2–3) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 17, 1976 | at No. 16 Michigan Rivalry | L 63–66 | 5–9 (2–4) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 24, 1976 | at Illinois | W 74–63 | 6–9 (3–4) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 24, 1976 | at Purdue | W 66–65 | 7–9 (4–4) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 31, 1976 | Minnesota | W 75–63 | 8–9 (5–4) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 2, 1976 | Northwestern | W 91–71 | 9–9 (6–4) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 7, 1976 | at Ohio State | W 83–82 | 10–9 (7–4) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 9, 1976 | at No. 1 Indiana | L 70–85 | 10–10 (7–5) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Feb 14, 1976 | No. 16 Michigan Rivalry | L 64–81 | 10–11 (7–6) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, Mi |
| Feb 21, 1976 | Illinois | W 69–59 | 11–11 (8–6) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 23, 1976 | Purdue | W 89–76 | 12–11 (9–6) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 28, 1976 | at Minnesota | L 61–71 | 12–12 (9–7) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Mar 1, 1976 | at Iowa | W 93–88 | 13–12 (10–7) | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| Mar 6, 1976 | Wisconsin | L 82–86 | 13–13 (10–8) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI |
| *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 (31.0 ppg in-conference)