1965–66 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1965–66 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1965–66 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 John E. Benington in his first year as head coach of the Spartans. They finished the season 15–7, 10–4 in Big Ten play to finish in second place.

1965–66 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record15–7 (10–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coachRobert Nordmann
CaptainWilliam Curtis
Home arenaJenison Fieldhouse
Seasons
1965–66 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Michigan 11 3   .786 18 8   .692
Michigan State 10 4   .714 15 7   .682
Iowa 8 6   .571 17 7   .708
Illinois 8 6   .571 12 12   .500
Minnesota 7 7   .500 14 10   .583
Northwestern 7 7   .500 12 12   .500
Wisconsin 6 8   .429 11 13   .458
Ohio State 5 9   .357 11 13   .458
Indiana 4 10   .286 8 16   .333
Purdue 4 10   .286 8 16   .333
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

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The Spartans finished the 1964–65 season 5–18, 1–13 in Big Ten play to finish in last place.

Following the season, head coach Forrest "Forddy" Anderson was fired after 11 years as the Spartans' head coach. Shortly thereafter, the school hired John E. Benington, head coach at Saint Louis, as head coach.

Roster and statistics

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1965–66 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No Name Pos Year Height Pts Reb
11 John Gorman G SR 5–11 2.2 0.2
12 John Bailey G SO 6–0 8.1 3.2
13 Edward "Ted" Crary F JR 6–5 0.8
14 Gary Spade G SO 5–11
15 Steven Rymal G SO 5–11 8.3 2.8
21 James O'Brien G SO 6–3 0.7
22 Shannon Reading G JR 6–1 6.0 1.8
23 James Kupper G SR 6–0 1.3 0.5
24 Stan Washington links to wrong Stan Washington G SR 6–3 18.0 10.6
25 William Curtis F SR 6–8 16.4 9.3
32 Jack Wynn C SO 6–10 1.0
33 Heywood Edwards F SO 6–5 1.7
35 Robert Miller F SR 6–5 1.3 1.1
41 Arthur Baylor F SO 6–6 4.5 3.6
42 Gerald Geistler C SO 6–8 0.8
43 Richard Holmes F SR 6–4 1.4
44 David Keeler F JR 6–8 1.0
45 Matthew Aitch C JR 6–7 13.8 8.8

Source[1][2]

Schedule and results

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The Spartans participated in the second annual Rainbow Classic at the Honolulu International Center from December 27–30, 1966.[3] There they played against a Marine and Army team in the tournament. These games do not count on the official record.

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 4, 1965*
Western Michigan L 82–85  0–1
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 7, 1965*
at Bowling Green W 84–59  1–1
Anderson Arena 
Bowling Green, OH
Dec 9, 1965*
Butler W 75–59  2–1
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 11, 1965*
at Notre Dame W 93–69  3–1
Notre Dame Fieldhouse 
South Bend, IN
Dec 18, 1965*
Saint Joseph's L 65–82  3–2
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 20, 1965*
Tulane W 80–61  4–2
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 22, 1965*
at Drake W 61–50  5–2
Veterans Memorial Auditorium 
Des Moines, IA
Dec 27, 1965*
vs. Hawaiian Marines
Rainbow Classic
W 84–53 
Honolulu International Center 
Honolulu, HI
Dec 28, 1965*
vs. Tulsa
Rainbow Classic
L 67–78  5–3
Honolulu International Center 
Honolulu, HI
Dec 30, 1965*
vs. Hawaiian Army
Rainbow Classic
W 97–69 
Honolulu International Center 
Honolulu, HI
Big Ten regular season
Jan 8, 1966
Minnesota W 85–65  6–3
(1–0)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 10, 1966
at Purdue W 92–74  7–3
(2–0)
Lambert Fieldhouse 
West Lafayette, IN
Jan 15, 1966
Ohio State W 80–64  8–3
(3–0)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 22, 1966
at Iowa L 76–90  8–4
(3–1)
Iowa Fieldhouse 
Iowa City, IA
Jan 24, 1966
Purdue W 92–74  9–4
(4–1)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 29, 1966
at Northwestern W 77–68  10–4
(5–1)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
Feb 5, 1966
Wisconsin W 79–65  11–4
(6–1)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 12, 1966
at Minnesota L 71–81  11–5
(6–2)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
Feb 19, 1966
at Wisconsin L 77–78  11–6
(6–3)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, WI
Feb 22, 1966
Illinois W 68–66  12–6
(7–3)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 26, 1966
Indiana W 69–63  13–6
(8–3)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 28, 1966
at Ohio State W 98–79  14–6
(9–3)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, OH
Mar 5, 1966
at Indiana L 76–86  14–7
(9–4)
New Fieldhouse 
Bloomington, IN
Mar 7, 1966
Michigan
Rivalry
W 86–77  15–7
(10–4)
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source[4][5][6]

References

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  1. ^ "1966-67 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  2. ^ "Michigan State Spartans 2016-17 Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  3. ^ Ramsey, Kirk. "Tropic Lightning News, 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam". www.25thida.org. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  4. ^ Ramsey, Kirk. "Tropic Lightning News, 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam". www.25thida.org. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  5. ^ "1965-66 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  6. ^ "Michigan State Spartans" (PDF). October 8, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.