1975–76 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
{{short description|American college basketball season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NCAA team season
|mode=Basketball
|year=1975–76
|team=Michigan State Spartans
|image=Michigan State Spartans script.svg
|conference=Big Ten Conference
|division=
|short_conf=Big Ten
|CoachRank=
|APRank=
|record= 14–13
|conf_record= 10–8
|head_coach=Gus Ganakas
|asst_coach1= Dick Versace
|asst_coach2= Pat Miller
|asst_coach3=Vernon Payne
|hc_year = 7th
|captain= Terry Furlow
|captain2=
|stadium=Jenison Fieldhouse
|champion=
|bowl=
|bowl_result=
|image_size = 120}}
{{1975–76 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings}}
The 1975–76 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1975–76 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 Gus Ganakas in his seventh and final year as head coach of the Spartans. MSU finished the season 14–13, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place.
Ganakas was fired as head coach after the season due, in part to the walk-out of black players in 1975 and as part of an athletic department purge.{{Cite news|url=http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2017/08/28/former-michigan-state-coach-jud-heathcoate-dies-age-90/610920001/|title=Former Michigan State basketball coach Jud Heathcote dies at age 90|work=Detroit Free Press|access-date=2017-08-29|language=en}} Ganakas would continue as an assistant athletic director for MSU until 1998.{{Cite web|url=http://www.spartansportsnetwork.com/modules.php?name=Pages&sp_id=194&m1=5&m2=16&mr=t|title=Michigan State Radio {{!}} Spartan Sports Network {{!}} Big Ten Radio|website=www.spartansportsnetwork.com|language=en|access-date=2017-02-21|archive-date=2017-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829204345/http://www.spartansportsnetwork.com/modules.php?name=Pages&sp_id=194&m1=5&m2=16&mr=t|url-status=dead}}
Previous season
The Spartans finished the 1974–75 season 17–9, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place.
Roster and statistics
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 90%" |
| colspan=9 style={{NCAA color cell|Michigan State Spartans}}| 1975–76 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team |
|---|
| style="background:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|3}}; color:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|4}};"|No
!style="background:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|3}}; color:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|4}};"|Name !style="background:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|3}}; color:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|4}};"|Pos !style="background:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|3}}; color:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|4}};"|Year !style="background:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|3}}; color:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|4}};"|Height !style="background:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|3}}; color:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|4}};"|Pts !style="background:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|3}}; color:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|4}};"|Reb !style="background:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|3}}; color:#{{NCAA color|Michigan State Spartans|4}};"|Ast |
| 12
|Milt Wiley |G |FR |5–11 |1.6 |0.3 |1.0 |
| 15
|Kevin Vandenbussche |G |JR |6–4 |0.2 |0.2 |0.4 |
| 21
|Paul Stoll |G |JR |6–2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |
| 22
|Lovelle Rivers |C |SR |6–5 |1.3 |2.8 |0.3 |
| 23
|Benny White |G |SR |5–9 |6.3 |1.9 |3.9 |
| 24
|Cedric Milton |C |SR |6–9 |6.5 |5.3 |0.8 |
| 25
|F |SR |6–5 |29.4 |7.7 |3.2 |
| 32
|F |FR |6–6 |11.7 |9.5 |1.2 |
| 33
|Edgar Wilson |F |JR |6–5 |7.7 |5.4 |1.6 |
| 34
|Ricky Nash |F |SO |6–4 |0.9 |1.3 |0.1 |
| 41
|Dan Riewald |F |JR |6–5 |1.5 |1.2 |0.3 |
| 42
|Tanya Webb |F |FR |6–8 |1.5 |1.1 |0.0 |
| 44
|Robert Chapman |G |JR |6–2 |14.6 |3.5 |2.0 |
| 45
|David Jordan |F |SO |6–5 | | | |
| 52
|Patrick Holewinski |C |SR |6–10 |0.6 |0.0 |0.3 |
Source{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1976-schedule.html|title=1975–76 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats {{!}} College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com|website=College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com|access-date=2017-02-21}}{{Cite web |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/msu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/16-17MediaGuide.pdf |title=16-17 Michigan State Spartans |publisher=Michigan State University |accessdate=April 16, 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415035346/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/msu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/16-17MediaGuide.pdf |archive-date=April 15, 2019}}
Schedule and results
{{CBB schedule start|gamehighs=no|attend=no}}
|-
!colspan=9 style={{NCAA color cell|Michigan State Spartans}}| Non-conference regular season
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 1, 1975
| nonconf = yes
| opponent = Central Michigan
| score = 69–61
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 1–0
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 6, 1975
| nonconf = yes
| away = yes
| opponent = Eastern Michigan
| score = 79–85
| site_stadium = Bowen Field House
| site_cityst = Ypsilanti, MI
| record = 1–1
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 8, 1975
| nonconf = yes
| opponent = Canisius
| score = 83–68
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 2–1
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 13, 1975
| nonconf = yes
| away = yes
| opponent = Western Michigan
| score = 68–78
| site_stadium = University Arena
| site_cityst = Kalamazoo, MI
| record = 2–2
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 20, 1975
| nonconf = yes
| away = ye
| opponent = NC State
| opprank = 9
| score = 75–84
| site_stadium = Reynolds Coliseum
| site_cityst = Raleigh, NC
| record = 2–3
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 22, 1975
| nonconf = yes
| away = yes
| opponent = Detroit Mercy
| score = 82–85
| site_stadium = Calihan Hall
| site_cityst = Detroit, MI
| record = 2–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 29, 1975
| nonconf = yes
| neutral = yes
| opponent = Southern Miss
| score = 89–77
| site_stadium = Franklin Street Gym
| site_cityst = Richmond, VA
| gamename = VCU Invitational semifinals
| record = 3–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Dec 30, 1975
| nonconf = yes
| away = yes
| opponent = VCU
| score = 75–80
| site_stadium = Franklin Street Gym
| site_cityst = Richmond, VA
| gamename = VCU Invitational championship
| record = 3–5
}}
|-
!colspan=9 style={{NCAA color cell|Michigan State Spartans}}| Big Ten regular season
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 3, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Wisconsin
| score = 63–70
| site_stadium = Wisconsin Field House
| site_cityst = Madison, WI
| record = 3–6
| conference = 0–1
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 5, 1976
| opponent = Iowa
| score = 105–88
| site_stadium = Jennison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 4–6
| conference = 1–1
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 8, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Northwestern
| score = 89–105
| site_stadium = Welsh-Ryan Arena
| site_cityst = Evanston, IL
| record = 4–7
| conference = 1–2
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 10, 1976
| opponent = Ohio State
| score = 92–82
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 5–7
| conference = 2–2
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 12, 1976
| opponent = Indiana
| opprank = 1
| score = 57–69
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 5–8
| conference = 2–3
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 17, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Michigan
| opprank = 16
| gamename = Rivalry
| score = 63–66
| site_stadium = Crisler Arena
| site_cityst = Ann Arbor, MI
| record = 5–9
| conference = 2–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 24, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Illinois
| score = 74–63
| site_stadium = Assembly Hall
| site_cityst = Champaign, IL
| record = 6–9
| conference = 3–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 24, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Purdue
| score = 66–65
| site_stadium = Mackey Arena
| site_cityst = West Lafayette, IN
| record = 7–9
| conference = 4–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Jan 31, 1976
| opponent = Minnesota
| score = 75–63
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 8–9
| conference = 5–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Feb 2, 1976
| opponent = Northwestern
| score = 91–71
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 9–9
| conference = 6–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Feb 7, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Ohio State
| score = 83–82
| site_stadium = St. John Arena
| site_cityst = Columbus, OH
| record = 10–9
| conference = 7–4
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Feb 9, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Indiana
| opprank = 1
| score = 70–85
| site_stadium = Assembly Hall
| site_cityst = Bloomington, IN
| record = 10–10
| conference = 7–5
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Feb 14, 1976
| opponent = Michigan
| opprank = 16
| gamename = Rivalry
| score = 64–81
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, Mi
| record = 10–11
| conference = 7–6
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Feb 21, 1976
| opponent = Illinois
| score = 69–59
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 11–11
| conference = 8–6
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Feb 23, 1976
| opponent = Purdue
| score = 89–76
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 12–11
| conference = 9–6
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Feb 28, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Minnesota
| score = 61–71
| site_stadium = Williams Arena
| site_cityst = Minneapolis, MN
| record = 12–12
| conference = 9–7
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Mar 1, 1976
| away = yes
| opponent = Iowa
| score = 93–88
| site_stadium = Iowa Field House
| site_cityst = Iowa City, IA
| record = 13–12
| conference = 10–7
}}
{{CBB schedule entry
| date = Mar 6, 1976
| opponent = Wisconsin
| score = 82–86
| site_stadium = Jenison Fieldhouse
| site_cityst = East Lansing, MI
| record = 13–13
| conference = 10–8
}}
{{CBB schedule end
| region=
| regionname =
| notes = Source{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/1976-schedule.html|title=1975-76 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results}}
}}
Awards and honors
- Terry Furlow – All-Big Ten First Team
- Terry Furlow – Big Ten Scoring Champion (31.0 ppg in-conference)
References
{{reflist}}
{{Michigan State Spartans men's basketball navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1975-76 Michigan State Spartans Men's Basketball Team}}
Category:Michigan State Spartans men's basketball seasons