The 2010–11 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in the

2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 8, 2010, with the preliminary games of the 2010 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, and ended with the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April ...

Tom Izzo Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has led the Spart ...

led the Spartans in his 16th year at Michigan State. The team played their home games at the

Breslin Center The Jack Breslin Student Events Center is a multi-purpose arena at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. The arena opened in 1989, and is named for Jack Breslin, MSU alumnus, former athlete and administrator, who first began pus ...

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, and competed in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. The Spartans finished the season 19–15, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fourth place. The Spartans lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their 14th consecutive appearance. As a No. 10 seed, they lost in the round of 64 to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Previous season

The

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

finished the 2009–10 season 28–9, 14–4 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for the regular season championship. MSU lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Michigan State received a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament, their 13th straight trip to the tournament. There, they defeated New Mexico State,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

to advance to the Final Four, their sixth overall trip and second consecutive trip under Tom Izzo. In the Final Four, they lost to

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

Offseason

The Spartans lost

Raymar Morgan Raymar Morgan (born August 8, 1988) is an American professional former basketball player. He played college basketball at the Michigan State University. Basketball information High school * Averaged 24.4 points and 9.0 rebounds as a senior at Ca ...

(11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game) to graduation following the season. Chris Allen was also dismissed from the team following the season.

2010 Recruiting class

Season summary

The Spartans were led by seniors,

Kalin Lucas Kalin Jay Lucas (born May 24, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Al-Jahra SC of the Kuwaiti Division I Basketball League. He played college basketball for Michigan State University. High school career Considered a four-star ...

(17.0 points and 3.4 assists per game) and

Durrell Summers Durrell La Faunce Summers (born April 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Mineros de Zacatecas of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). He played college basketball for Michigan State University. High school ...

(11.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game), and junior

Draymond Green Draymond Jamal Green Sr. (born March 4, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, who plays primarily at the Power forward (basketball), power forward ...

(12.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game). On the strength of their trip to the Final Four the previous year, the team began the season ranked No. 2 in the country. The Spartans made their second trip under Izzo to the

Maui Invitational The Maui Invitational, currently known as the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, is an annual early-season college basketball tournament that takes place Thanksgiving week, normally in Lahaina, Hawaii, at the Lahaina Civic Center on the island of Maui. ...

and were upset again, this time by UConn. In the third place game, Michigan State defeated No. 13

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. MSU suffered further losses to No. 1

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, No. 8

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

in the Jimmy V Classic, and No. 18

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. They finished the non-conference portion of their season 8–4 and ranked No. 20 in the country. On January 26, 2011, backup point guard

Korie Lucious Korian "Korie" Lucious (born November 5, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Iowa State University Cyclones men's basketball team. Upon transferring from the Michigan State University ...

, who averaged 6.5 points and 4.1 assists per game for the Spartans, was dismissed from the team. The Spartans were inconsistent in conference play, beating No. 14

and No. 20

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, but suffering nine losses in conference and finishing the regular season with a 17–13 overall record and 9–9 in conference and in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament. After beating

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

and blowing out No. 9

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

in the Big Ten tournament, the Spartans fell to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

in the semifinals. The blowout win over Purdue likely ensured the Spartans inclusion in the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State received a No. 10 seed in the Southeast Region of the NCAA tournament, their 14th straight appearance, but the lowest seeding the Spartans had received in the NCAA Tournament since

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. The Spartans faced No. 7-seeded

in the second round (formerly known as the first round). They trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half and trailed by 42–24 at the half. In the second half, MSU began to foul on nearly every possession in the second half and closed the lead, outscoring UCLA 52–36 in the half. However, the rally fell short and they lost 78–76.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Ten regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Ten tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Player statistics

Source

Rankings

Awards and honors

* Kalin Lucas – All Big Ten Second Team * Kalin Lucas – USBWA All-District Team * Draymond Green – All Big Ten Third Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2010-11 Michigan State Spartans Men's Basketball Team Michigan State Spartans men's basketball seasons

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

2010 in sports in Michigan 2011 in sports in Michigan