1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his sixth year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 11–17, 6–12 to finish in a tie for seventh place in Big Ten play.

1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	12–16 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jud Heathcote (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Frank Rourke John Holms William Norton
Captains	Kurt James Kevin Smith
Home arena	Jenison Fieldhouse

1981–82 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 7 Minnesota	14	–	4		.778			23	–	6		.793
No. 16 Iowa	12	–	6		.667			21	–	8		.724
Ohio State	12	–	6		.667			21	–	10		.677
Indiana	12	–	6		.667			19	–	10		.655
Purdue	11	–	7		.611			18	–	14		.563
Illinois	10	–	8		.556			18	–	11		.621
Michigan State	6	–	12		.333			11	–	17		.393
Michigan	6	–	12		.333			7	–	20		.259
Northwestern	4	–	14		.222			8	–	19		.296
Wisconsin*	1	–	17		.056			4	–	23		.148
Rankings from AP Poll *Wisconsin forfeited all games after Jan 25, 1982 due to NCAA sanctions. Disputed record (3–15, 6–23)

Due to NCAA sanctions against Wisconsin for providing improper benefits for players, MSU's official record for the year is 12–16, 7–11.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1980–81 season 13–14, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place in conference.

Roster and statistics

1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No	Name	Pos	Year	Height	Pts	Reb	Ast
5	Kevin Smith	G	SR	6–2	15.6	2.1	4.5
10	Tim Gore	G	SO	6–4	0.4	0.0	0.0
11	Sam Vincent	G	FR	6–2	11.7	2.8	3.1
20	Ben Tower	F	SO	6–8	5.4	4.6	0.8
22	Bill Cawood	F	JR	6–7	0.5	0.4	0.2
23	Randy Morrison	G	SO	6–2	5.0	1.5	1.6
24	Richard Mudd	F	SO	6–9	3.3	1.9	0.2
30	Kurt James	F	SR	6–7	1.5	3.2	0.3
35	Larry Polec	F	FR	6–8
41	Derek Perry	F	JR	6–6	8.6	5.4	1.4
42	Kevin Willis	C	SO	7–0	6.0	4.2	0.1
43	Evaristo Perez	F			2.0	1.6	0.2
44	Herb Bostic	G	JR	6–4	1.0	0.7	0.1
50	Cleveland Bibbens	F	SO	6–6	2.8	1.9	0.3
52	Steve Bates	C	SR	6–10	0.5	0.8	0.0

Source

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 27, 1981*		Central Michigan Spartan Cutlass Classic semifinals	W 89–70	1–0	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Nov 28, 1981*		Western Michigan Spartan Cutlass Classic finals	L 79–83	1–1	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Dec 2, 1981*		at Detroit Mercy	W 65–62	2–1	Calihan Hall  Detroit, MI
Dec 5, 1981*		at Kansas	L 56–74	2–2	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
Dec 12, 1981*		Cincinnati	L 45–56	2–3	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Dec 15, 1981*		Green Bay	W 49–48	3–3	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Dec 19, 1981*		Marshall	W 101–82	4–3	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Dec 27, 1981*		vs. No. 20 North Carolina State Rainbow Classic quarterfinals	L 46–67	4–4	Neil S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, HI
Dec 28, 2016*		vs. Cal State Fullerton Rainbow Classic consolation	W 51–50	5–4	Neil S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, HI
Dec 29, 1981*		at Hawaii	L 61–62	5–5	Neil S. Blaisdell Center  Rainbow Classic fifth place game
Big Ten regular season
Jan 7, 1982		Indiana	W 65–58	6–5 (1–0)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Jan 9, 1982		No. 6 Minnesota	L 58–64	6–6 (1–1)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Jan 14, 1982		at Purdue	L 47–53	6–7 (1–2)	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, IN
Jan 16, 1982		at Illinois	L 51–55	6–8 (1–3)	Assembly Hall  Champaign, IL
Jan 21, 1982		at Michigan Rivalry	W 64–62	7–8 (2–3)	Crisler Arena  Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 23, 1982		Wisconsin	W 68–58	8–8 (3–3)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Jan 28, 1982		No. 6 Iowa	L 56–57	8–9 (3–4)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Jan 30, 1982		Northwestern	W 64–61	9–9 (4–4)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Feb 4, 1982		at Ohio State	L 49–50	9–10 (4–5)	St. John Arena  Columbus, OH
Feb 6, 1982		at Northwestern	L 43–48	9–11 (4–6)	Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
Feb 11, 1982		Michigan Rivalry	W 66–55	10–11 (5–6)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Feb 13, 1982		Ohio State	L 46–51	10–12 (5–7)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Feb 18, 1982		at No. 7 Iowa	L 53–59	10–13 (5–8)	Iowa Fieldhouse  Iowa City, IA
Feb 20, 1982		at Wisconsin	L 60–65	10–14 (5–9)	Wisconsin Field House  Madison, WI
Feb 25, 1982		Illinois	W 56–47	11–14 (6–9)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Feb 27, 1982		Purdue	L 49–51	11–15 (6–10)	Jenison Field House  East Lansing, MI
Mar 4, 1982		at No. 7 Minnesota	L 51–54	11–16 (6–11)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
Mar 6, 1982		Indiana	L 58–74	11–17 (6–12)	Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source.

Awards and honors

• Kevin Smith – All-Big Ten First Team

Source