# 1986–87 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1986–87 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1986–87 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 11th year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 11–17, 6–12 to finish in seventh place in Big Ten play.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1985–86 season with a record of 23–8, 12–6 to finish in third place in Big Ten play. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the Midwest region. There they defeated No. 12-seeded Washington and No. 4-seeded Georgetown to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to No. 1-seeded Kansas.

## Roster and statistics

1986–87 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 13 | Darryl Johnson | G | SR | 6–2 | 22.1 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 23 | Vernon Carr | G/F | SR | 6–6 | 13.8 | 4.5 | 3.4 |
| 45 | Carlton Valentine | F | JR | 6–5 | 11.1 | 5.6 | 1.1 |
| 10 | Kirk Manns | G | FR | 6–1 | 7.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
| 40 | Barry Fordham | F/C | SR | 6–8 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 0.6 |
| 42 | Todd Wolfe | G/F | SO | 6–5 | 5.3 | 1.8 | 1.0 |
| 35 | Ed Wright | G/F | JR | 6–6 | 4.1 | 1.8 | 2.2 |
| 41 | George Papadakos | C | JR | 7–0 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 0.3 |
| 43 | Bobby Worthington | F | JR | 6–7 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 0.4 |
| 20 | Ken Redfield | F | FR | 6–7 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| 44 | Scott Sekal | F | SO | 6–8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| 55 | Mario Izzo | C | SO | 6–11 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| 30 | Jim Sarkine | F | SO | 6–9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 28, 1986* | Eastern Michigan Spartan Cutlass Classic semifinal | W 99–83 | 1–0 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Nov 29, 1986* | No. 9 Navy Spartan Cutlass Classic championship | L 90–91 | 1–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 2, 1986* | Brooklyn | W 80–62 | 2–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 4, 1986* | at Maine | L 81–84 | 2–2 | Alfond Arena Orono, ME |
| Dec 6, 1986* | at George Washington | W 77–62 | 3–2 | Charles E. Smith Center Washington, DC |
| Dec 13, 1986* | Iowa State | W 86–85 | 4–2 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 16, 1986* | at Illinois–Chicago | L 65–74 | 4–3 | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| Dec 20, 1986* | at Texas Christian | L 47–66 | 4–4 | Daniel–Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, TX |
| Dec 29, 1986* | vs. Brigham Young Cable Car Classic semifinals | L 88–96 | 4–5 | Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, CA |
| Dec 30, 1986* | vs. Wake Forest Cable Car Classic third place game | W 71–62 | 5–5 | Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, CA |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 1987 | at No. 2 Purdue | L 72–87 | 5–6 (0–1) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 5, 1987 | at No. 16 Illinois | L 72–79 | 5–7 (0–2) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 8, 1987 | No. 4 Indiana | L 60–79 | 5–8 (0–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 10, 1987 | Ohio State | W 90–80 | 6–8 (1–3) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 15, 1987 | at Michigan Rivalry | L 70–74 | 6–9 (1–4) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 22, 1987 | at Wisconsin | L 71–78 | 7–9 (2–4) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Jan 28, 1987 | at Northwestern | L 65–67 | 7–10 (2–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 29, 1987 | No. 2 Iowa | L 75–89 | 7–11 (2–6) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 31, 1987 | Minnesota | W 72–60 | 8–11 (3–6) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 4, 1987 | at No. 2 Indiana | L 80–84 | 8–12 (3–7) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Feb 9, 1987 | at Ohio State | L 72–90 | 8–13 (3–8) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 15, 1987 | Michigan Rivalry | W 90–81 | 9–13 (4–8) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 19, 1987 | Northwestern | W 96–71 | 10–13 (5–8) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 21, 1987 | Wisconsin | L 63–65 | 10–14 (6–8) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 26, 1987 | at No. 7 Iowa | L 64–93 | 10–15 (6–9) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 28, 1987 | at Minnesota | W 77–67 | 11–15 (7–9) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Mar 4, 1987 | No. 3 Purdue | L 59–69 | 11–16 (7–10) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 7, 1987 | No. 12 Illinois | L 64–77 | 11–17 (7–11) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||