# 1979–80 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1980–81 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 fourth year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished the season 12–15, 6–12 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place in conference.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1978–79 season 26–6, 13–5 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten and ranked No. 3 in the country. The Spartans received a No. 2 seed in the Mideast of the NCAA Tournament. MSU defeated Lamar, Louisiana State, and Notre Dame to advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four, they defeated Penn by 34 points to face overall No. 1 Indiana State. The Spartans won the National Championship as Magic Johnson led MSU over Larry Bird and the Sycamores.

## Roster and statistics

1979–80 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team :
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb |
| 5 | Kevin Smith | G | SO | 6–1 | 8.4 | 1.8 |
| 11 | Terry Donnelly | G | SR | 6–2 | 8.8 | 1.4 |
| 12 | Mike Brkovich | G | JR | 6–4 | 8.8 | 2.7 |
| 15 | Ron Charles | F | SR | 6–8 | 14.5 | 8.9 |
| 21 | Don Brkovich | F | SO | 6–6 | 1.0 | |
| 22 | Bill Cawood | G | FR | 6–6 | 0.5 | |
| 23 | Mike Longaker | G | SR | 6–2 | 1.2 | 0.2 |
| 30 | Kurt James | F | JR | 6–7 | 1.5 | 2.6 |
| 31 | Jay Vincent | C | JR | 6–8 | 21.5 | 7.7 |
| 35 | Rob Gonzalez | F | SO | 6–7 | 2.3 | 1.1 |
| 41 | Derek Perry | F | FR | 6–6 | 2.4 | 1.2 |
| 42 | Richard Kaye | F | JR | 6–6 | 1.0 | |
| 44 | Herb Bostic | F | FR | 6–4 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| 52 | Steve Bates | C | SO | 6–10 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 30, 1979* | vs. Princeton Lapchick Memorial Tournament semifinal | W 60–46 | 1–0 | Carnesecca Arena Jamaica, NY |
| Dec 1, 1979* | at No. 16 St. John's Lapchick Memorial Tournament championship | L 73–88 | 1–1 | Carnesecca Arena Jamaica, NY |
| Dec 6, 1979* | Long Beach State | W 87–73 | 2–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 10, 1979* | Portland State | W 88–54 | 3–1 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 14, 1979* | at Wichita State | L 54–55 | 3–2 | Levitt Arena Wichita, KS |
| Dec 18, 1979* | at Central Michigan | W 95–76 | 4–2 | Rose Arena Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Dec 20, 1979* | at Detroit Mercy | W 63–57 | 5–2 | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Dec 28, 1979* | vs. Weber State Las Vegas Holiday Classic semifinal | L 61–63 | 5–3 | Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, NV |
| Dec 29, 1979* | vs. Loyola Marymount Las Vegas Holiday Classic third place game | W 82–65 | 6–3 | Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, NV |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 1980 | No. 8 Purdue | W 73–71 | 6–4 (0–1) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 5, 1980 | Minnesota | L 80–93 | 6–5 (0–2) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 10, 1980 | at Northwestern | L 61–65 | 6–6 (0–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Jan 12, 1980 | at No. 19 Indiana | L 64–72 | 6–7 (0–4) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 17, 1980 | Wisconsin | W 62–61 | 7–7 (1–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 19, 1980 | No. 13 Iowa | W 75–67 | 8–7 (2–4) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 24, 1980 | at Michigan Rivalry | W 59–58 | 9–7 (3–4) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 26, 1980 | at Illinois | L 65–74 | 9–8 (3–5) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Jan 31, 1980 | No. 6 Ohio State | W 74–54 | 10–8 (4–5) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 2, 1980 | Illinois | W 68–59 | 11–8 (5–5) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 7, 1980 | at Iowa | L 39–44 | 11–9 (5–6) | Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 9, 1980 | at No. 13 Ohio State | L 59–71 | 11–10 (5–7) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 14, 1980 | at Wisconsin | L 66–80 | 11–11 (5–8) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI |
| Feb 16, 1980 | Michigan Rivalry | W 82–74 | 12–11 (6–8) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 21, 1980 | No. 19 Indiana | L 72–75 | 12–12 (6–9) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 23, 1980 | Northwestern | L 73–75 | 12–13 (6–10) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 28, 1980 | at Minnesota | L 73–87 | 12–14 (6–11) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Mar 1, 1980 | at No. 18 Purdue | L 73–91 | 12–15 (6–12) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. Source ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Jay Vincent – All-Big Ten First Team
* Jay Vincent – Big Ten Scoring Champion (22.1 ppg in-conference)