# 2002–03 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans, led by coach Tom Izzo in his eighth year, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. MSU finished the season with a record of 22–13, 10–6 to finish in a tie for third in Big Ten play. The Spartans received a bid to the NCAA tournament for the sixth consecutive year and advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Texas.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 2001–02 season with an overall record of 19–12, 10–6 to finish in fourth place in the Big Ten. Michigan State received a No. 10 seed in the NCAA tournament, their fifth straight trip to the Tournament, and were eliminated in the First Round by NC State.
The Spartans lost sophomore Marcus Taylor (16.8 points and 5.3 assists per game) to the NBA draft following the season.

## Season summary

The Spartans were led by sophomores Chris Hill (13.7 points per game) and Alan Anderson (9.8 points per game). The Spartans, despite the loss of their leading scorer, Marcus Taylor, began the season ranked No. 9 in the country. After two early wins, MSU suffered losses to Villanova and Oklahoma State in the Great Alaska Shootout. They bounced back with wins over No. 22 Virginia and No. 12 Kentucky in Lexington. After winning six consecutive games, they were shocked by Toledo and fell to No. 10 Oklahoma in the All College Classic. Michigan State finished the non-conference schedule at 8–4 and ranked No. 25 in the country.
MSU began the Big Ten regular season losing four of their first six games and fell out of the rankings. The Spartans rebounded thereafter to beat No. 19 Indiana and No. 13 Illinois. A non-conference loss to No. 15 Syracuse followed a 30-point blowout loss to No. 20 Illinois. MSU finished the conference schedule with four straight wins to tie for third place at 10–6 in conference and 18–11 overall. Michigan State beat Purdue in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals, but fell to Ohio State in the semifinals.
The Spartans received a bid to the NCAA tournament for the sixth consecutive year. MSU received a No. 7 seed in the South Region. A win over Colorado in the First Round was followed by a rout of No. 10 Florida to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time in six years. The Spartans defeated No. 17 Maryland to advance to the Elite Eight for the fourth time in five years. However, MSU fell to No. 5-ranked and No. 1-seeded Texas in the Regional Final.

## Roster

2002–03 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| Name | Class | Pos | Height | Summary |
| Maurice Ager | FR | G | 6'5" | 6.7 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.6 Ast |
| Aloysius Anagonye | SR | F | 6'8" | 7.4 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 1.1 Ast |
| Alan Anderson | SO | F | 6'6" | 9.8 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 3.3 Ast |
| Jason Andreas | JR | C | 6'10" | 1.0 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 0.1 Ast |
| Adam Ballinger | SR | F | 6'9" | 5.5 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 1.0 Ast |
| Tim Bograkos | SO | G | 6'2" | 1.6 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.8 Ast |
| Paul Davis | FR | C | 6'11" | 7.8 Pts, 4.7 Reb, 0.4 Ast |
| Andy Harvey | FR | G | 6'5" | 0.0 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.0 Ast |
| Chris Hill | FR | G | 6'3" | 13.7 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 3.7 Ast |
| Rashi Johnson | JR | G | 6'2" | 1.0 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 1.0 Ast |
| Erazem Lorbek | FR | F | 6'10" | 6.4 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 0.6 Ast |
| Kelvin Torbert | SO | G | 6'4" | 8.7 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 1.7 Ast |
| Jayson Vincent | FR | G | 6'4" | 0.3 Pts, 0.1 Reb, 0.0 Ast |
| Brian Westrick | SR | F | 6'5" | 0.2 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.0 Ast |
| Adam Wolfe | JR | F | 6'9" | 1.4 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.2 Ast |
| Source |||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 11, 2002* | No. 9 | Magic Johnson All-Stars | L 85–104 | | Breslin Center East Lansing, Michigan |
| Nov 14, 2002* | No. 9 | Nike Elite | W 56–55 | | Breslin Center East Lansing, Michigan |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 22, 2002* 7:00 pm | No. 9 | UNC Asheville | W 66–52 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Nov 28, 2002* 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 9 | vs. Montana Great Alaska Shootout quarterfinals | W 80–60 | 2–0 | Sullivan Arena (7,163) Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 29, 2002* 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | vs. Villanova Great Alaska Shootout semifinals | L 73–81 | 2–1 | Sullivan Arena (8,029) Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 30, 2002* 5:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | vs. Oklahoma State Great Alaska Shootout third place game | L 61–64 | 2–2 | Sullivan Arena (8,243) Anchorage, Alaska |
| Dec 4, 2002* 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 21 | No. 22 Virginia ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 82–75 | 3–2 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Dec 8, 2002* 1:00 pm | No. 21 | Cleveland State | W 79–47 | 4–2 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Dec 14, 2002* 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 21 | at No. 12 Kentucky | W 71–67 | 5–2 | Rupp Arena (23,145) Lexington, Kentucky |
| Dec 17, 2002* 7:00 pm | No. 15 | Loyola Chicago | W 80–54 | 6–2 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Dec 21, 2002* 1:00 pm | No. 15 | South Florida | W 65–56 | 7–2 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Dec 28, 2002* 7:00 pm | No. 15 | Jacksonville State | W 76–52 | 8–2 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Dec 30, 2002* 7:00 pm | No. 14 | Toledo | L 76–81 | 8–3 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Jan 4, 2003* 8:05 pm | No. 14 | vs. No. 10 Oklahoma All-College Basketball Classic | L 58–60 | 8–4 | Ford Center (18,034) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Jan 9, 2003 7:00 pm | No. 25 | Ohio State | W 66–55 | 9–4 (1–0) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Jan 11, 2003 1:35 pm | No. 25 | at Iowa | L 64–68 | 9–5 (1–1) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,116) Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 14, 2003 7:00 pm | | at Purdue | L 60–72 | 9–6 (1–2) | Mackey Arena (10,630) West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Jan 18, 2003 1:00 pm | | at Minnesota | L 69–77 | 9–7 (1–3) | Williams Arena (14,617) Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 22, 2003 6:00 pm | | Penn State | W 70–36 | 10–7 (2–3) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Jan 26, 2003 1:00 pm, CBS | | at Michigan Rivalry | L 58–60 | 10–8 (2–4) | Crisler Arena (13,751) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 28, 2003 7:00 pm | | No. 19 Indiana | W 61–54 | 11–8 (3–4) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Feb 2, 2003 1:00 pm, CBS | | No. 13 Illinois | W 68–65 | 12–8 (4–4) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Feb 8, 2003 7:00 pm | | at Indiana | W 67–62 $^{OT}$ | 13–8 (5–4) | Assembly Hall (17,303) Bloomington, Indiana |
| Feb 11, 2003 6:00 pm | | at Wisconsin | L 53–64 | 13–9 (5–5) | Kohl Center (17,142) Madison, Wisconsin |
| Feb 15, 2003 3:00 pm | | Northwestern | W 64–51 | 14–9 (6–5) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Feb 18, 2003 6:00 pm | | No. 20 Illinois | L 40–70 | 14–10 (6–6) | Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois |
| Feb 23, 2003* 2:00 pm, CBS | | No. 15 Syracuse | L 75–76 | 14–11 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Feb 26, 2003 7:00 pm | | Minnesota | W 71–61 | 15–11 (7–6) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Mar 1, 2003 2:34 pm | | Purdue | W 69–61 | 16–11 (8–6) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Mar 5, 2003 8:00 pm | | Iowa | W 82–54 | 17–11 (9–6) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Mar 8, 2003 12:17 pm | | at Ohio State | W 72–58 | 18–11 (10–6) | Value City Arena (19,200) Columbus, Ohio |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 2003 1:30 pm, ESPN | (5) | vs. (4) Purdue quarterfinals | W 54–42 | 19–11 | United Center (17,843) Chicago, Illinois |
| Mar 15, 2003 12:40 pm, CBS | (5) | vs. (8) Ohio State semifinals | L 54–55 | 19–12 | United Center (20,248) Chicago, Illinois |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 21, 2003* 7:10 pm, CBS | (7 S) | vs. (10 S) Colorado First Round | W 79–64 | 20–12 | St. Pete Times Forum (20,224) Tampa, Florida |
| Mar 23, 2003* 7:07 pm, CBS | (7 S) | vs. (2 S) No. 10 Florida Second Round | W 68–46 | 21–12 | St. Pete Times Forum (21,304) Tampa, Florida |
| Mar 28, 2003* 8:57 pm, CBS | (7 S) | vs. (6 S) No. 17 Maryland Sweet Sixteen | W 60–58 | 22–12 | Alamodome (33,009) San Antonio, Texas |
| Mar 30, 2003* 4:05 pm, CBS | (7 S) | vs. (1 S) No. 5 Texas Elite Eight | L 76–85 | 22–13 | Alamodome (30,169) San Antonio, Texas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Local Source. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | 9 | 9 | 9 | 21 | 21 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 25 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A* |
| Coaches | 10 | 10 | 10 | 21 | 21 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 18 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

## Awards and honors

* Chris Hill – All Big Ten Second Team
* Alan Anderson – All Big Ten Honorable Mention (Media)