The 1999–2000 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented

Michigan State University 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 ...

in the

1999–2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 1999–2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 1999, with the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2000 NCAA Division I men's basket ...

. The team played their home games at

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 pu ...

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

. They were coached by Tom Izzo, in his fifth year as head coach, and were members of 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 32–7, 13–3 to win a share of the Big Ten regular season championship for the third consecutive year. As the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

to win the tournament championship for the second consecutive year. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region (their second consecutive No. 1 seed, they defeated Valparaiso and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive year. They then defeated

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, M ...

and

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

to advance to the Final Four for the second consecutive year. After a win in the National Semifinal over fellow Big Ten foe Wisconsin, MSU won the National Championship over

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. The win marked the school's second National Championship and Izzo's only championship to date.

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 referr ...

finished the 1998–99 season 33–5, 15–1 to win their second consecutive Big Ten regular season championship. They defeated Northwestern,

, and

to win the Big Ten tournament. As a result, the received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, their second consecutive trip to the Tournament. MSU defeated Mount Saint Mary's and Ole Miss to advance to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

to advance to the school's first Elite Eight since

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

. In the Elite Eight, they defeated

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

to earn a trip to the Final Four for the first time since

. There they lost No. 1-ranked

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 r ...

. The 33 wins marked a school record for wins in a season.

Season summary

Non-conference play

The Spartans were looking to build on their Final Four appearance the year before with seniors,

Mateen Cleaves Mateen Ahmad Cleaves (born September 7, 1977) is a retired American basketball player. He played parts of six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an All-American college player for Michigan State, where he led the Sparta ...

(12.1 points and 6.9 assist per game) and

Morris Peterson Morris Russell Peterson Jr. (born August 26, 1977) is an American retired professional basketball player who played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Michigan State University, where in ...

(16.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game), leading the way. MSU began the season ranked No. 3 in the country, but were without starting point guard and team captain, Cleaves, who sustained a stress fracture in his right foot during the offseason. Without Cleaves, the Spartans began the season with a home win over Toledo before travelling to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

for the Puerto Rico Shootout. In Puerto Rico, they defeated

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

to advance to the championship of the tournament. In the championship game, they lost to No. 20

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. The Spartans went on to defeat No. 2

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

on the road as part of the inaugural

ACC–Big Ten Challenge The ACC–Big Ten Challenge (or Big Ten–ACC Challenge as it was called in alternating years) was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series that matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Confere ...

. MSU returned to East Lansing for easy wins over Howard and Eastern Michigan. A win over No. 5-ranked

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

in the Great Eight in Chicago followed. A road loss to No. 2

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

followed the neutral court win over Kansas. MSU sandwiched home wins over Oakland and Mississippi Valley State around a loss on the road to unranked

. A shocking loss on the road at Wright State added to the early season struggles and ended the non-conference slate. MSU would enter the Big Ten schedule at 9–4 and ranked No. 11 in the country.

Big Ten play

Cleaves returned to the Spartans lineup on January 5, 2000 to help the Spartans to wins over Penn State and Iowa. Led by Cleaves the Spartans defeated No. 9

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

before losing their first Big Ten game on the road to No. 7

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. The loss stopped MSU's 21-game conference winning streak dating back to 1999. The Spartans bounced back with wins over Northwestern in back-to-back games, holding Northwestern to 29 points in the second game. A win over Illinois led by Charlie Bell's 20 points led to a matchup against rival Michigan with the Spartans at 15–5, 6–1 on the season. In Ann Arbor, MSU blew out the Wolverines as Michigan was without leading scorer

Jamal Crawford Aaron Jamal Crawford (born March 20, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2000 to 2020. He is regarded as one of the best ball handlers in NBA history,. He was nam ...

who was declared ineligible 20 minutes before the game started because of NCAA investigations. Led by Morris Peterson's 32 points and 10 points, MSU had no problems with Michigan especially without their leading scorer, winning by 20. MSU then stepped out of conference for a matchup with No. 7

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

, a fellow participant in the prior year's Final Four. The Spartans had no problems with the Huskies, scoring 25 second chance points and 20 points off Huskie turnovers. MSU returned to the Big Ten to face Purdue in West Lafayette and were upset, falling 70–67. The loss dropped the Spartans to 17–6, 7–2. The Spartans would rebound to beat Wisconsin in Madison before beating No. 7 Ohio State to avenge their earlier loss. A close win over Wisconsin in East Lansing marked their 26th straight win in the Breslin Center and pushed the Spartans to 10–2 in conference. A road win over Penn State preceded an overtime road loss to Indiana. MSU returned home and blew out Minnesota 79–43. In the final regular season game of the season, the Spartans faced Michigan. Cleaves dished out 20 assists as he set the then Big Ten career record for assists in the 114–63 thumping of the Wolverines. The Spartans finished the conference slate with a 13–3 conference record and 23–7 overall while being ranked No. 2 in the country. MSU earned a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Ohio State, their third consecutive championship.

Big Ten tournament

The Spartans went on to win the third annual Big Ten tournament as the No. 2 seed, defeating No. 25

for the championship for the second consecutive year. Cleaves and Peterson were named to the All–Tournament Team and Peterson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

NCAA Tournament

As a result of their strong finish, the Spartans were awarded the No. 1 seed, their second consecutive No. 1 seed, in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament. From there, the Spartans cruised to their third consecutive Sweet Sixteen with wins over Valparaiso, and

. MSU continued their National Championship push by reaching their second consecutive Final Four with wins over

and

. MSU won every game by double digits despite playing the best possible seed in each round. In their Final Four matchup, Michigan State faced off against fellow Big Ten foe,

, beating them in a hard-fought game, 53–41. In the National Championship game, the Spartans triumphed over the

89–76, despite losing Cleaves to an ankle injury 3:42 into the second half. Cleaves eventually returned, severely limping and in obvious pain, to lead the Spartans to the championship. Cleaves was subsequently named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Joining Cleaves on the NCAA All-Tournament Team were Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell, and A.J. Granger. The National Championship was the school's second ever basketball National Companionship and first since

Roster and statistics

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Ten tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

Awards and honors

* Mateen Cleaves – NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player * Mateen Cleaves – All-Big Ten First Team * Morris Peterson – All-Big Ten First Team * Morris Peterson – Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball * Morris Peterson – Big Ten tournament Most Outstanding Player

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1999-2000 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 ...

Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons 1999 in sports in Michigan 2000 in sports in Michigan