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1969–70 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
1969–70 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	9–15 (5–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gus Ganakas (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Robert Nordmann; Matthew Aitch;
Captains	James Gibbons; Lloyd Ward;
Home arena	Jenison Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 1968–69 1970–71 →

1969–70 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 7 Iowa	14	–	0	1.000	20	–	5	.800
Purdue	11	–	3	.786	18	–	6	.750
Ohio State	8	–	6	.571	15	–	9	.625
Illinois	8	–	6	.571	15	–	9	.625
Minnesota	7	–	7	.500	13	–	11	.542
Michigan	5	–	9	.357	10	–	14	.417
Wisconsin	5	–	9	.357	10	–	14	.417
Michigan State	5	–	9	.357	9	–	15	.375
Northwestern	4	–	10	.286	9	–	15	.375
Indiana	3	–	11	.214	7	–	17	.292

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1969–70 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1969–70 NCAA University Division 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 Gus Ganakas in his first year as head coach of the Spartans. The Spartans finished the season 9–15, 5–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place.^[1]

Prior to the season, on September 10, 1969, the Spartans head coach, John E. Benington suffered a heart attack and died after jogging at Jenison Fieldhouse at the age of 47.^[2] Ganakas, an assistant under Benington, was promoted to head coach for the season.^[2]

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1968–69 season 11–12, 6–8 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.^[3]

Roster and statistics

1969–70 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No	Name	Pos	Year	Height	Pts	Reb
11	Lloyd Ward	G	SR	5–11	7.4	2.1
12	Tim Bograkos	G	JR	6–1	3.1	0.9
13	Gary Przybylo	G	SO	6–1
15	Ralph Simpson	F	SO	6–4	29.0	10.4
21	Rudy Benjamin	G	JR	6–3	12.6	2.8
24	Ronald Gutkowski	F	SO	6–5	8.8	5.8
25	Robert Gale	F	SR	6–5	2.3	1.6
31	Eddie Humphrey	G	JR	6–2	1.3	0.3
32	Steve Kirkpatrick	G	SR	6–2	0.7	0.7
33	Paul Dean	G	JR	6–1	1.4	0.6
35	Pat Miller	F	SO	6–2	7.8	3.7
41	James Gibbons	C	SR	6–6	10.2	7.2
42	Craig Larsen	C	SO	6–9	0.1
44	Ron Binge	F	SR	6–5	0.0
45	William Cohrs	C	SO	6–6	0.7	0.6

Source^[4]^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1969*	Eastern Kentucky	W 89–85	1–0	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Dec 6, 1969*	Toledo	L 80–82	1–1	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Dec 13, 1969*	at Western Michigan	W 86–71	2–1	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
Dec 17, 1969*	at Butler	L 60–81	2–2	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
Dec 19, 1969*	vs. Bradley Utah Classic semifinals	W 89–87	3–2	John M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
Dec 20, 1969*	at Utah Utah Classic championship	L 85–105	3–3	John M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
Dec 27, 1969*	at Oregon Far West Classic quarterfinals	L 82–87	3–4	McArthur Court Portland, OR
Dec 29, 1969*	vs. No. 15 Illinois Far West Classic consolation game	L 77–86	3–5	McArthur Court Portland, OR
Dec 30, 1969*	vs. Temple Far West Classic seventh place game	L 51–90	3–6	McArthur Court Portland, OR
Jan 3, 1970	at Indiana	W 85–84	4–6 (1–0)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
Jan 10, 1970	Northwestern	W 98–93	5–6 (2–0)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Jan 17, 1970	at Minnesota	L 78–85	5–7 (2–1)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
Jan 20, 1970*	No. 20 Notre Dame	W 85–82	6–7	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Jan 24, 1970	Michigan Rivalry	L 88–91	6–8 (2–2)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Jan 31, 1970	Minnesota	L 87–92	6–9 (2–3)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Feb 3, 1970	at Purdue	L 86–105	6–10 (2–4)	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
Feb 7, 1970	at Wisconsin	L 79–89	6–11 (2–5)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
Feb 10, 1970	Ohio State	L 66–86	6–12 (2–6)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Feb 14, 1970	at No. 14 Iowa	L 77–103	6–13 (2–7)	Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA
Feb 21, 1970	Indiana	W 78–66	7–13 (3–7)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Feb 24, 1970	Illinois	L 64–74	7–14 (3–8)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Feb 28, 1970	at Ohio State	W 82–80	8–14 (4–8)	St. John Arena Columbus, OH
Mar 3, 1970	Purdue	L 98–101	8–15 (4–9)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Mar 7, 1970	at Illinois	W 81–76	9–15 (5–9)	Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. Source^[5]^[2]