1976–77 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics