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1994–95 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

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1994–95 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
Oldsmobile Spartan Classic champions
NCAA tournament, first round
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 20
APNo. 11
Record22–6 (14–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Captains
Home arenaBreslin Center
Seasons
1994–95 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 12 Purdue 15 3   .833 25 7   .781
No. 11 Michigan State 14 4   .778 22 6   .786
Indiana 11 7   .611 19 12   .613
Michigan 11 7   .611 17 14   .548
Illinois 10 8   .556 19 12   .613
Minnesota 10 8   .556 20 11   .645
Penn State 9 9   .500 21 11   .656
Iowa 9 9   .500 21 12   .636
Wisconsin 7 11   .389 13 14   .481
Ohio State 2 16   .111 6 22   .214
Northwestern 1 17   .056 5 22   .185
Rankings from AP Poll
*Minnesota 1 NCAA Tourn. game vacated due to sanctions against the program; 1 Win by forfeit (non-conf.)[1]
Disputed record (19-12)


The 1994–95 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1994–95 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 Jud Heathcote in his 19th and final season at Michigan State. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 22–6, 14–4 in Big Ten play to finish in second place, one game behind Purdue. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Southeast region, where they were upset by 14th-seeded Weber State in the First Round.[2] The game marked the final game Heathcote's coaching tenure at MSU. Longtime assistant coach Tom Izzo would take over the following year.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1993–94 season with an overall record of 20–12, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. Michigan State received an at-large bid as a No. 7 seed to the NCAA tournament. There they defeated Seton Hall before losing to Duke in the Second Round.

Season

The Spartans were led by All-American Shawn Respert, who averaged 25.6 points per game.

The Spartans began their season ranked No. 18 in the country and on the road, avenging a prior loss to UIC a few years prior. A win over Louisville preceded a trip to future Big Ten foe Nebraska. In a high scoring game, the Spartans were outscored 96–91. MSU went on to win their next seven games including their first two conference games, wins over Wisconsin and No. 22-ranked Iowa moving the Spartans to No. 14 in the country. A loss at Indiana led to another seven-games winning streak, including wins over non-conference foe Oklahoma State and rival Michigan pushing MSU to a No. 7 ranking.. A home loss to No. 25 Purdue and No. 24 Minnesota in two of their next four games dropped MSU out of the top ten rankings, slipping to 12th. The Spartans would rally to win four of their final five games to finish the regular season ranked No. 11 and one game behind conference champions Purdue.

The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Southeast region. The Spartans overlooked No. 14 seed Weber State in the First Round and were stunned 79–72.[3] MSU led by nine at the half against the Wildcats, but were outscored by 16 in the second half.[4]

Roster and statistics

1994–95 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
Name Class Pos Height Summary
Damion Beathea JR F 6'7" 5.0 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Quinton Brooks JR F 6'7" 11.3 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Jamie Feick JR C 6'9" 9.9 Pts, 10.0 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Jon Garavaglia SO F 6'9" 7.6 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 0.6 Ast
David Hart JR G 6'4" 0.5 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Thomas Kelley FR G 6'2" 1.4 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Steve Nicodemus JR G 6'4" 1.2 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Andy Penick SR G 6'2" 1.6 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Steve Polonowski SO F 6'9" 2.2 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Mark Prylow SR G 6'3" 0.8 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Mike Respert SO G 5'11" 1.3 Pts, 0.1 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Shawn Respert SR G 6'1" 25.6 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 3.0 Ast
Eric Snow SR G 6'3" 10.8 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 7.8 Ast
Ray Weathers SO G 6'3" 3.5 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.7 Ast
Source[5]

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
Nov 30, 1994*
No. 18 at UIC W 92–78  1–0
UIC Pavilion 
Chicago, IL
Dec 3, 1994*
No. 18 Louisville W 85–71  2–0
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 10, 1994*
No. 15 at Nebraska L 91–96  2–1
Bob Devaney Sports Center 
Lincoln, NE
Dec 12, 1994*
No. 18 Cleveland State W 111–68  3–1
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 17, 1994*
No. 18 at Detroit Mercy W 80–63  4–1
Calihan Hall 
Detroit, MI
Dec 20, 1994*
No. 17 Tennessee W 78–68  5–1
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 29, 1994*
No. 15 Ball State
Oldsmobile Spartan Classic semifinals
W 117–95  6–1
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 30 1994*
No. 15 Long Beach State
Oldsmobile Spartan Classic championship
W 67–64  7–1
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 4, 1995
No. 14 at Wisconsin W 78–64  8–1
(1–0)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, WI
Jan 7, 1995
No. 14 No. 22 Iowa W 69–68  9–1
(2–0)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 11, 1995
No. 11 at Indiana L 82–89  9–2
(2–1)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
Jan 14, 1995*
No. 11 Oklahoma State W 70–69  10–2
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 18, 1995
No. 12 Northwestern W 93–56  11–2
(3–1)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 22, 1995
No. 12 at Michigan
Rivalry
W 73–71  12–2
(4–1)
Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 25, 1995
No. 10 Minnesota W 54–53  13–2
(5–1)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 28, 1995
No. 10 at Illinois W 75–67  14–2
(6–1)
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL
Feb 2, 1995
No. 9 Penn State W 82–62  15–2
(7–1)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 4, 1995
No. 9 at Ohio State W 67–58  16–2
(8–1)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, OH
Feb 7, 1995
No. 7 No. 25 Purdue L 69–78  16–3
(8–2)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 11, 1995
No. 7 Penn State W 68–53  17–3
(9–2)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 15, 1995
No. 8 Illinois W 68–58  18–3
(10–2)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 18, 1995
No. 8 at No. 24 Minnesota L 57–66  18–4
(10–3)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
Feb 21, 1995
No. 12 Michigan
Rivalry
W 67–64  19–4
(11–3)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 25, 1995
No. 12 at Northwestern W 88–60  20–4
(12–3)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
Mar 5, 1995
No. 10 Indiana W 67–61  21–4
(13–3)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
Mar 8, 1995
No. 9 at Iowa L 78–79  21–5
(13–4)
Carver-Hawkeye Arena 
Iowa City, IA
Mar 11, 1995
No. 9 Wisconsin W 97–72  22–5
(14–4)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1995*
(3 SE) No. 11 (14 SE) Weber State
First Round
L 72–79  22–6
Donald L. Tucker Center 
Tallahassee, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time
Source[6].

Rankings

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked.
Poll Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Wk 18
AP 20 17 18 15 18 17 15 14 11 12 10 9 7 8 12 10 9 11

Source.[7]

Awards and honors

  • Shawn Respert – All-Big Ten First Team

References

  1. ^ "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  2. ^ "Weber State 79, Michigan State 72". Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  3. ^ Couch, Graham. "Couch: Weber State joins Spartans at NCAA tourney site; a memory stirs". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "Weber State vs. Michigan State Box Score, March 17, 1995". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  5. ^ "1994-95 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats".
  6. ^ "1994-95 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results".
  7. ^ "1995 Michigan State Spartans". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 12, 2016.