1995–96 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team American college basketball season
1995–96 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W
L
PCT W
L
PCT
Indiana [ a] 13
–
5
.722
20
–
11
.645
No. 18 Penn State 12
–
6
.667
21
–
7
.750
No. 21 Iowa [ b] 12
–
6
.667
24
–
8
.750
Minnesota [ c] 11
–
7
.611
20
–
10
.667
Wisconsin [ d] 9
–
9
.500
18
–
14
.563
Michigan State 9
–
9
.500
16
–
16
.500
Illinois 7
–
11
.389
18
–
13
.581
No. 4 Purdue [ e] 6
–
12
.333
7
–
23
.233
Ohio State [ f] 5
–
13
.278
12
–
15
.444
Northwestern [ g] 4
–
14
.222
9
–
18
.333
Michigan [ h] 1
–
8
.111
1
–
10
.091
Rankings from AP Poll [ 1]
^ Indiana adjusted from 12–6, 19–12
^ Iowa adjusted from 11–7, 23–9
^ Minnesota adjusted from 10–8, 19–13 (vacated 2 games)
^ Wisconsin adjusted from 8–10, 17–15
^ Purdue adjusted from 15–3, 26–6 (forfeit 18 wins, vacated 2 games)
^ Ohio State adjusted from 3–15, 10–17
^ Northwestern adjusted from 2–16, 7–20
^ Michigan adjusted from 10–8/21–11 (vacated 21 games)
The 1995–96 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . The team played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference . They were coached by Tom Izzo in his first year as head coach after 11 years as an assistant coach. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 16–16, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Washington before losing to Fresno State in the second round.
The season marked the last time, as of 2023 , that Michigan State did not finish the season with a winning record.
Previous season
The Spartans finished the 1994–95 season with a record of 22–6, 14–4 in Big Ten play to finish in second place. Michigan State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Southeast region where they lost to Weber State in the first round.
Roster and statistics
1995–96 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
Name
Class
Pos
Height
Summary
Damion Beathea
SR
F
6'7"
5.9 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Quinton Brooks
SR
F
6'7"
16.3 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Jamie Feick
SR
C
6'9"
10.1 Pts, 9.5 Reb, 2.3 Ast
Jon Garavaglia
JR
F
6'9"
5.1 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 1.1 Ast
David Hart
SR
G
6'4"
0.0 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Thomas Kelley
SO
G
6'2"
5.1 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 3.6 Ast
Jason Klein
FR
G
6'7"
2.1 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Anthony Mull
JR
G
6'4"
2.8 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Steve Nicodemus
SR
G
6'4"
0.7 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Morris Peterson
FR
F
6'7"
0.5 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Steve Polonowski
JR
F
6'9"
0.5 Pts, 0.6 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Mike Respert
JR
G
5'11"
2.4 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Antonio Smith
FR
F
6'8"
4.3 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Ray Weathers
JR
G
6'3"
9.7 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.3 Ast
[ 2]
Schedule and results
Date
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site
Non-conference regular season
Nov 20, 1995 *
at Chaminade Maui Invitational Tournament W 69–66 1–0
Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI
Nov 21, 1995 *
vs. No. 20 North Carolina Maui Invitational Tournament semifinals L 70–92 1–1
Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI
Nov 22, 1995 *
Santa Clara Maui Invitational Tournament third place game L 71–77[ 3] 1–2
Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI
Nov 28, 1995 *
at No. 25 Arkansas Great Eight W 75–72 2–2
The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, MI
Dec 2, 1995 *
at No. 18 Louisville
L 59–79 2–3
Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
Dec 6, 1995 *
Evansville W 67–63 3–3
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Dec 10, 1995 *
Detroit Mercy L 61–63 3–4
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Dec 16, 1995 *
at Kansas State
W 67–64 4–4
Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS
Dec 18, 1995 *
at Oklahoma State
L 57–68 4–5
Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK
Dec 21, 1995 *
East Tennessee State W 63–57 5–5
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Dec 29, 1995 *
Central Michigan Oldsmobile Spartan Classic L 62–69 5–6
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Dec 30, 1995 *
Idaho State Oldsmobile Spartan Classic W 68–55 6–6
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Big Ten regular season
Jan 4, 1996
Indiana W 65–60 7–6
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Jan 6, 1996
at No. 13 Illinois
W 68–58 8–6
Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
Jan 13, 1996
at No. 23 Michigan Rivalry L 54–76 8–7
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Jan 17, 1996
at Wisconsin
L 48–61 8–8
Kohl Center Madison, WI
Jan 20, 1996
No. 16 Iowa
W 62–60 9–8
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Jan 24, 1996
Northwestern W 68–54 10–8
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Jan 27, 1996
at Minnesota
W 68–54 11–8
Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
Jan 31, 1996
No. 10 Penn State
W 61–58 12–8
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Feb 3, 1996
at No. 17 Purdue
L 51–56 12–9
Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
Feb 7, 1996
Ohio State W 55–41 13–9
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Feb 10, 1996
at No. 10 Penn State
L 50–54 13–10
Rec Hall University Park, PA
Feb 14, 1996
Minnesota L 63–64 13–11
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Feb 17, 1996
at Northwestern
W 75–57 14–11
Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
Feb 21, 1996
at No. 18 Iowa
L 47–83 14–12
Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA
Feb 24, 1996
Wisconsin L 52–73 14–13
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Feb 27, 1996
at Michigan Rivalry L 46–75 14–14
Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI
Mar 6, 1996
Illinois W 77–67 15–14
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Mar 10, 1996
at Indiana
L 53–57 15–15
Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
NIT
Mar 12, 1996 *
Washington first round W 64–50[ 4] 16–15
Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
Mar 19, 1996 *
at Fresno State second round L 63–68 16–16
Selland Arena Fresno, CA
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll , (#) denotes seed within region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time Source
[ 5] .
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
Information related to 1995–96 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
