1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

1978–79 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Rankings from AP Poll)

Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
NCAA Tournament Champions; Big Ten Regular Season Champions
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#4
AP	#3
1978–79 record	26–6 (13–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jud Heathcote
Assistant coach	Bill Berry
Assistant coach	Fred Paulsen
Assistant coach	Dave Harshman
Home arena	Jenison Fieldhouse
« 1977–78	1979–80 »

The 1978–1979 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans were coached by Jud Heathcote in his third year and played their home games at Jenison Field House. They were members of the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 26–6, 13–5 in Big Ten play, finishing in a tie for first place. They earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament and defeated Indiana State for the National Championship. This marked the school's first National Championship in basketball.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1977–78 season with a record of 25–5, 15–3 in conference to win the Big Ten championship. They beat Providence in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament and Western Kentucky in the Mideast Regional Semifinal. However, they lostl to Kentucky in the Regional Final.

Season Summary

MSU was led by star sophomore, Ervin "Magic" Johnson (16.1 PPG), senior Greg Kelser (18.1 PPG), and sophomore Jay Vincent (13.7 PPG).^[1] The Spartans started the season well, finishing the non-conference season with an 8–1 recorded including a loss to #13 ranked North Carolina. They entered conference play as the #1 ranked team in the country.

After winning their first two conference games, they lost 4 of their next 6 games to fall to a 4–4 record in the Big Ten, trailing first place Ohio State by four games in the standings. However, Michigan State then won their next 10 games with wins over #7 Ohio State, at #15 Iowa, at #13 Ohio State, and #18 Purdue. A loss on the final day of the season to Wisconsin resulted in the Spartans slipping into a tie for the Big Ten championship with Iowa and Purdue. Michigan State received a bid to NCAA Tournament because of a better head-to-head performance against Big Ten rivals and a superior overall record (21–6).^[2]

Michigan State advanced to the Final Four by defeating Lamar, LSU and #1 seeded Notre Dame. In the Final Four, the second in school history, they faced Penn, blowing them out 101–67 to earn a trip to the championship. There, the Spartans faced #1 ranked and undefeated Indiana State led by senior Larry Bird. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever,^[3] Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64 to win the school's first ever basketball National Championship. Magic Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

After two years in college, in which he averaged 17.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game, Johnson declared himself eligible for the 1979 NBA Draft.^[4]

Roster

1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
Name	Position	Summary
Gregory Kelser	F	18.1 Pts, 8.5 Reb, 1.5 Ast
Earvin Johnson	G	16.1 Pts, 7.4 Reb, 8.2 Ast
Jay Vincent	C	13.7 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 1.4 Ast
Ron Charles	F	8.8 Pts, 4.7 Reb, 0.4 Reb
Terry Donnelly	G	6.5 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 2.1 Ast
Mike Brkovich	F	6.5 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Rob Gonzalez	F	1.5 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Gerald Busby	F	2.3 Pts, 0.9 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Greg Lloyd	G	1.2 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Mike Longaker	G	1.3 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Rich Kaye	F	0.9 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Don Brkovich	F	0.3 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Gerald Gilkie	F	1.0 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Jaime Hufffman	G	0.3 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Source^[5]

Schedule and results

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site City, State
Regular season
Nov 27, 1978*	#7	Central Michigan	W 71–54	1–0	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Dec. 9, 1978*	#4	Cal State Fullerton	W 92–89	2–0	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Dec 13, 1978*	#3	at Western Michigan	W 109–69	3–0	University Arena Kalamazoo, MI
Dec 16, 1978*	#3	at #13 North Carolina	L 69–70	3–1	Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 19, 1978*	#3	Cincinnati	W 63–52	4–1	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, MI
Dec 28, 1978*	#4	vs. Washington State	W 98–52	5–1	Memorial Coliseum Portland, OR
Dec 29, 1978*	#4	at Oregon State	W 65–57	6–1	Memorial Coliseum Portland, OR
Dec 30, 1978*	#4	vs. Indiana	W 74–57	7–1	Memorial Coliseum Portland, OR
Jan 4, 1979	#1	Wisconsin	W 84–55	8–1 (1–0)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Jan 6, 1979	#1	Minnesota	W 69–62	9–1 (2–0)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Jan 11, 1979	#1	at #4 Illinois	L 55–57	9–2 (2–1)	Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
Jan 13, 1979	#1	at Purdue	L 50–52	9–3 (2–2)	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
Jan 18, 1979	#6	Indiana	W 82–58	10–3 (3–2)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Jan 20, 1979	#6	Iowa	W 83–72 ^OT	11–3 (4–2)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Jan 25, 1979	#4	at Michigan Rivalry	L 48–49	11–4 (4–3)	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 27, 1979	#4	at Northwestern	L 65–83	11–5 (4–4)	Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
Feb 1, 1979	#14	#7 Ohio State	W 84–79 ^OT	12–5 (5–4)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Feb 3, 1979	#14	Northwestern	W 61–50	13–5 (6–4)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Feb 4, 1979*	#14	Kansas	W 85–61	14–5	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Feb 8, 1979	#10	at #15 Iowa	W 60–57	15–5 (7–4)	Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA
Feb 10, 1979	#10	at #13 Ohio State	W 73–57	16–5 (8–4)	St. John Arena Columbus, OH
Feb 15, 1979	#8	at Indiana	W 59–47	17–5 (9–4)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
Feb 17, 1979	#8	Michigan Rivalry	W 80–57	18–5 (10–4)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Feb 22, 1979	#7	#18 Purdue	W 73–67	19–5 (11–4)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Feb 24, 1979	#4	Illinois	W 76–62	20–5 (12–4)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
Mar 1, 1979	#4	at Minnesota	W 76–63	21–5 (13–4)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
Mar 1, 1979	#4	at Wisconsin	L 81–83	21–6 (13–5)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
NCAA Tournament
Mar 10, 1979*	(2 ME) #3	vs. (10 ME) Lamar Second Round	W 95–64	22–6	Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN
Mar 16, 1979*	(2 ME) #3	vs. (3 ME) #7 LSU Regional Semifinal	W 87–71	23–6	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, IN
Mar 18, 1979*	(2 ME) #3	vs. (1 ME) #4 Notre Dame Regional Final	W 80–68	24–6	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, IN
Mar 22, 1979*	(2 ME) #3	vs. (9 E) #14 Penn Final Four	W 101–67	25–6	Special Events Center Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 26, 1979*	(2 ME) #3	vs. (1 MW) #1 Indiana State National Championship	W 75–64	26–6	Special Events Center Salt Lake City, UT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=MidEast Region. Source^[6]

Awards and honors

Magic Johnson, Consensus All-American teams
Magic Johnson, Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Team
1979	1	1	Magic Johnson	Los Angeles Lakers
1979	1	4	Greg Kelser	Detroit Pistons
1980	4	74	Ron Charles	Chicago Bulls
1981	2	24	Jay Vincent	Dallas Mavericks
1981	8	181	Mike Brkovich	Milwaukee Bucks

^[7] ^[8] ^[9]

References

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↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1979.html
↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1979-schedule.html
↑ http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1979&lg=N
↑ http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1980.html
↑ http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1981.html

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[5] ttp://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1979.html

[6] ttp://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1979-schedule.html

[7] ttp://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1979&lg=N

[8] ttp://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1980.html

[9] ttp://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1981.html

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v t e Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
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NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

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Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

References

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1978–79 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#3 Michigan State	13	–	5	.722	26	–	6	.813
#15 Purdue	13	–	5	.722	27	–	8	.771
#20 Iowa	13	–	5	.722	20	–	8	.714
Ohio State	12	–	6	.667	19	–	12	.613
Indiana	10	–	8	.556	22	–	12	.647
Michigan	8	–	10	.444	15	–	12	.556
Illinois	7	–	11	.389	19	–	11	.633
Wisconsin	6	–	12	.333	12	–	15	.444
Minnesota	6	–	12	.333	11	–	16	.407
Northwestern	2	–	16	.111	6	–	21	.222

Rankings from AP Poll)