1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions
Big Ten champions
Far West Classic champions
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 3
Record26–6 (13–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Captains
Home arenaJenison Fieldhouse
1978–79 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 3 Michigan State13–5 .72226–6  .813
No. 15 Purdue13–5 .72227–8  .771
No. 20 Iowa13–5 .72220–8  .714
Ohio State12–6 .66719–12  .613
Indiana10–8 .55622–12  .647
Michigan8–10 .44415–12  .556
Illinois7–11 .38919–11  .633
Wisconsin6–12 .33312–15  .444
Minnesota6–12 .33311–16  .407
Northwestern2–16 .1116–21  .222
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 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 in East Lansing, Michigan. They were members of the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans finished the season 26–6, 13–5 in Big Ten play to earn a share of the Big Ten championship. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Mideast region. They defeated Lamar, LSU, and No. 1-seeded Notre Dame to advance to the Final Four, only the school's second trip to the Final Four. They defeated Penn to advance to the national championship game where they defeated Indiana State to win the school's first national championship in basketball.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1977–78 season 25–5, 15–3 in Big Ten play 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 lost to Kentucky in the Regional Final.

Season summary

MSU was led by star sophomore, Earvin "Magic" Johnson (16.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game), senior Greg Kelser (18.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game), and sophomore Jay Vincent (13.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game).[1] The Spartans started the season well, finishing the non-conference season with an 8–1 record including a loss to No. 13 ranked North Carolina. They entered conference play as the No. 1-ranked team in the country.

After winning their first two conference games, they lost four of their next six 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 No. 7 Ohio State, at No. 15 Iowa, at No. 13 Ohio State, and No. 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. MSU received a bid to the NCAA tournament because of a better head-to-head performance against Big Ten rivals and a superior overall record (21–6).[2] The Spartans finished the season ranked No. 3 in the country.

Michigan State advanced to the Final Four by defeating Lamar, LSU and No. 1-seeded Notre Dame. In the Final Four, the second Final Four appearance in school history, they faced Penn, blowing them out 101–67 to earn a trip to the Championship. There, the Spartans faced No. 1-ranked and undefeated Indiana State led by senior Larry Bird. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64 to win the school's first ever basketball National Championship.[3] 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 for the 1979 NBA draft.[4]

Roster and stats

1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No Name Pos Year Height Pts Reb Ast
32 Gregory Kelser F SR 6–7 18.1 8.5 1.5
33 Earvin Johnson G SO 6–8 16.1 7.4 8.2
31 Jay Vincent C SO 6–8 13.7 5.6 1.4
15 Ron Charles F JR 6–7 8.8 4.7 0.4
11 Terry Donnelly G JR 6–2 6.5 1.4 2.1
12 Mike Brkovich F SO 6–4 6.5 1.6 1.0
35 Rob Gonzalez F FR 6–7 1.5 0.8 1.0
25 Gerald Busby F FR 6–4 2.3 0.9 0.2
10 Greg Lloyd G FR 6–1 1.2 0.4 0.3
23 Mike Longaker G FR 6–1 1.3 0.5 0.0
42 Rich Kaye F SO 6–7 0.9 0.2 0.0
21 Don Brkovich F FR 6–6 0.3 0.2 0.0
43 Gerald Gilkie F SO 6–7 1.0 1.0 0.0
24 Jaime Hufffman G SO 6–3 0.3 0.5 0.0

Source[5][6]

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
Nov 27, 1978*
 No. 7 Central Michigan W 71–54  1–0
 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Dec. 9, 1978*
 No. 4 Cal State Fullerton W 92–89  2–0
 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Dec 13, 1978*
 No. 3 at Western Michigan W 109–69  3–0
 University Arena 
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Dec 16, 1978*
 No. 3 at No. 13 North Carolina L 69–70  3–1
 Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Dec 19, 1978*
 No. 3 Cincinnati W 63–52  4–1
 Pontiac Silverdome 
Pontiac, Michigan
Dec 28, 1978*
 No. 4 vs. Washington State
Far West Classic		 W 98–52  5–1
 Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
Dec 29, 1978*
 No. 4 at Oregon State
Far West Classic championship		 W 65–57  6–1
 Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
Dec 30, 1978*
 No. 4 vs. Indiana W 74–57  7–1
 Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
Jan 4, 1979
 No. 1 Wisconsin W 84–55  8–1
(1–0)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Jan 6, 1979
 No. 1 Minnesota W 69–62  9–1
(2–0)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Jan 11, 1979
 No. 1 at No. 4 Illinois L 55–57  9–2
(2–1)		 Assembly Hall 
Champaign, Illinois
Jan 13, 1979
 No. 1 at Purdue L 50–52  9–3
(2–2)		 Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, Indiana
Jan 18, 1979
 No. 6 Indiana W 82–58  10–3
(3–2)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Jan 20, 1979
 No. 6 Iowa W 83–72 OT 11–3
(4–2)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Jan 25, 1979
 No. 4 at Michigan
Rivalry		 L 48–49  11–4
(4–3)		 Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Jan 27, 1979
 No. 4 at Northwestern L 65–83  11–5
(4–4)		 Welsh–Ryan Arena 
Evanston, Illinois
Feb 1, 1979
 No. 14 No. 7 Ohio State W 84–79 OT 12–5
(5–4)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Feb 3, 1979
 No. 14 Northwestern W 61–50  13–5
(6–4)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Feb 4, 1979*
 No. 14 Kansas W 85–61  14–5
 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Feb 8, 1979
 No. 10 at No. 15 Iowa W 60–57  15–5
(7–4)		 Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, Iowa
Feb 10, 1979
 No. 10 at No. 13 Ohio State W 73–57  16–5
(8–4)		 St. John Arena 
Columbus, Ohio
Feb 15, 1979
 No. 8 at Indiana W 59–47  17–5
(9–4)		 Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
Feb 17, 1979
 No. 8 Michigan
Rivalry		 W 80–57  18–5
(10–4)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Feb 22, 1979
 No. 7 No. 18 Purdue W 73–67  19–5
(11–4)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Feb 24, 1979
 No. 4 Illinois W 76–62  20–5
(12–4)		 Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, Michigan
Mar 1, 1979
 No. 4 at Minnesota W 76–63  21–5
(13–4)		 Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mar 3, 1979
 No. 4 at Wisconsin L 81–83  21–6
(13–5)		 Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, Wisconsin
NCAA Tournament
Mar 10, 1979*
 (2 ME) No. 3 vs. (10 ME) Lamar
Second Round		 W 95–64  22–6
 Murphy Center 
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Mar 16, 1979*
 (2 ME) No. 3 vs. (3 ME) No. 7 LSU
Regional semifinal		 W 87–71  23–6
 Market Square Arena 
Indianapolis, Indiana
Mar 18, 1979*
 (2 ME) No. 3 vs. (1 ME) No. 4 Notre Dame
Regional Final		 W 80–68  24–6
 Market Square Arena 
Indianapolis, Indiana
Mar 22, 1979*
 (2 ME) No. 3 vs. (9 E) No. 14 Penn
Final Four		 W 101–67  25–6
 Special Events Center 
Salt Lake City
Mar 26, 1979*
 (2 ME) No. 3 vs. (1 MW) No. 1 Indiana State
National Championship		 W 75–64  26–6
 Special Events Center 
Salt Lake City
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
ME=MidEast Region.
Source[7]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked.
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP7743541164151087443
Coaches4——34411641398844Not released

^Coaches did not release week 1 or week 2 polls.

Awards and honors

  • Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Consensus All-American teams
  • Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball
  • Earvin "Magic" Johnson, All-Big Ten First Team
  • Gregory Kelser, All-Big Ten First Team

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

Source[8] [9] [10]

References

  1. ↑ "1979 Michigan State Spartans". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  2. ↑ Halls, Bill (March 21, 1989). "Magic Moment: Ten years later, Johnson vs. Bird still special". The Detroit News. p. 1E, 7E.
  3. ↑ Katz, Andy. "From coast to coast, a magical pair". ESPN. Retrieved May 6, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Magic Johnson Statistics". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  5. ↑ "1978-79 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats".
  6. ↑ "16-17 Michigan State Spartans" (PDF). Michigan State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  7. ↑ "1978-79 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results".
  8. ↑ "1979 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  9. ↑ "1980 NBA draft".
  10. ↑ "1981 NBA draft".
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