1976–77 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

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1976–77 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record12–15 (9–9 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
CaptainRobert Chapman
Home arenaJenison Fieldhouse
Seasons
1976–77 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Michigan 16 2   .889 26 4   .867
Purdue 14 4   .778 20 8   .714
Iowa 12 6   .667 20 7   .741
Indiana 11 7   .611 16 11   .593
Michigan State 9 9   .500 12 15   .444
Illinois 8 10   .444 16 14   .533
Wisconsin 7 11   .389 11 16   .407
Northwestern 7 11   .389 9 18   .333
Ohio State 6 12   .333 11 16   .407
No. 13 Minnesota* 0 18   .000 0 27   .000
Rankings from AP Poll
*Minnesota forfeited all games due to NCAA sanctions.
Disputed record (15–3, 24–3)

The 1976–77 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1976–77 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 Jud Heathcote in his first year as head coach of the Spartans. MSU finished the season 10–17, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place.

Due to forfeits related to NCAA sanctions to Minnesota for improper selling of tickets,[1] MSU's official record for the season is 12–15, 9–9.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1975–76 season 14–13, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. The season marked the last season for Gus Ganakas as Spartan head coach.

Roster and statistics

1976–77 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No Name Pos Year Height Pts Reb Ast
12 Terry Donnelly G FR 6–2 7.9 1.9
15 Ron Charles F FR 6–7 2.5 1.9
21 Donald Flowers G JR 6–1 0.0 0.0
22 Nate Phillips G JR 6–4 0.7 0.7
23 Kevin Vandenbussche G SR 6–4 0.4 0.8
24 Herbert Drayton G SR 6–4 0.3 0.3
25 Alfred Brown F SO 6–6 1.3 1.6
32 Greg Kelser F SO 6–5 21.7 10.8
33 Edgar Wilson F SR 6–5 9.2 4.7
34 Ricky Nash F JR 6–4 0.0 0.4
41 Dan Riewald F SR 6–5 0.2 0.7
42 Tanya Webb C SO 6–7 3.9 3.1
44 Robert Chapman G SR 6–2 5.9 3.1
45 James Coutre C JR 6–9 5.9 5.4
52 Les DeYoung C JR 6–9
Mike Longaker G FR 6–1 0.2 0.0

Source[2][3]

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 29, 1976*
at Central Michigan L 76–81  0–1
Rose Arena 
Mount Pleasant, MI
Dec 4, 1976*
Western Michigan L 73–74  0–2
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 6, 1976*
No. 9 North Carolina L 58–81  0–3
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 11, 1976*
Eastern Michigan W 54–52 OT 1–3
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 15*
Detroit Mercy L 94–99  1–4
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 18, 1976*
at Canisius W 82–59  2–4
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 
Buffalo, NY
Dec 18, 1976*
NC State W 78–60  3–4
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 29, 1976*
vs. Holy Cross
Gator Bowl Tournament semifinals
L 61–70  3–5
Swisher Gymnasium 
Jacksonville, FL
Dec 30, 1976*
vs. Jacksonville
Gator Bowl Tournament third place game
L 63–65  3–6
Swisher Gymnasium 
Jacksonville, FL
Big Ten regular season
Jan. 6, 1977
Wisconsin W 84–61  4–6
(1–0)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 8, 1977
Northwestern L 68–70  4–7
(1–1)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 15, 1977
No. 6 Michigan
Rivalry
L 70–83  4–8
(1–2)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 17, 1977
at Indiana W 61–60  5–8
(2–2)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
Jan 20, 1977
Illinois W 67–58  6–8
(3–2)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 22, 1977
No. 19 Purdue L 70–76  6–9
(3–3)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 24, 1977
at No. 11 Minnesota L 70–75  6–10
(3–4)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
Jan 27, 1977
at Northwestern L 58–66  6–11
(3–5)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
Jan 29, 1977
at Wisconsin L 83–87  6–12
(3–6)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, WI
Feb 5, 1977
Indiana L 79–81  6–13
(3–7)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 7, 1977
at Iowa L 79–87  6–14
(3–8)
Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, IA
Feb 12, 1977
at Ohio State W 71–67  7–14
(4–8)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, OH
Feb 17, 1977
No. 12 Minnesota L 77–99  7–15
(4–9)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 19, 1977
Iowa W 81–79  8–15
(5–9)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 26, 1977
at No. 3 Michigan
Rivalry
L 65–69  8–16
(5–10)
Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, MI
Feb 28, 1977
Ohio State W 80–79  9–16
(6–10)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Mar 3, 1977
at Purdue L 69–78  9–17
(6–11)
Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, IN
Mar 5, 1977
at Illinois W 62–61  10–17
(7–11)
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
Source[4][3]

References

  1. ^ Fury, Shawn (January 5, 2010). "Shawn's Blog: Who was the best college team that never existed?". Shawn's Blog. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  2. ^ "1976–77 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "16-17 Michigan State Spartans" (PDF). Michigan State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  4. ^ "1976-77 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results".