The 1998–99 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented

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

in the

1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1998 and concluded with the 64-team 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, whose 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game, finals were held at Trop ...

. 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 pus ...

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 47,741. The city is located immediate ...

and were coached by fourth-year head coach,

Tom Izzo Thomas Michael 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 le ...

. The Spartans finished the season 33–5, 15–1 to win the Big Ten regular season championship by three games. MSU defeated Northwestern,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

to win the Big Ten tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, they defeated Mount Saint Mary's and

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

to advance to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen they defeated

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

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 song ...

. In the Elite Eight, they defeated

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

to earn a trip to the Final Four for the first time since 1979. There they lost to No. 1-ranked

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

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

Previous season

The

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

finished the 1997–98 season 22–8, 13–3 in Big Ten play to earn a share of the Big Ten regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Big Ten tournament to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Michigan State received an at-large bid as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, their first trip to the Tournament under Tom Izzo. They defeated

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

and

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to No. 1-seeded

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Season summary

The Spartans, fresh off their first trip to the Sweet Sixteen since

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, started the season ranked No. 5 in the country. Michigan State was led by juniors

Mateen Cleaves Mateen Ahmad Cleaves (born September 7, 1977) is an American former professional 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 le ...

(11.7 points and 7.2 assists per game) and

Morris Peterson Morris Russell Peterson Jr. (born August 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans, earning Bi ...

(13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game). The Spartans played three top seven teams in their first seven games. MSU lost all three: at No. 7

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, versus No. 4 Duke at the

United Center The United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and at No. 1

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. However, the Spartans finished the non–conference season without another loss and a record of 11–3 while ranked No. 14 in the country. After losing their first Big Ten game to No. 24

, the Spartans won the remaining 15 games in conference. The wins included wins against No. 19

, No. 14

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, at No. 18

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, No. 15

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, at No. 14 Iowa, at No. 22 Minnesota, No. 17

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

, No. 14 Wisconsin, and at No. 23 Purdue. The Spartans won the Big Ten conference regular season by three games with a record of 15–1. MSU finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the country. (Ohio State, who finished in second place with a 12–4 record, was later forced to vacate 29 games including all conference wins.) The Spartans earned the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament and faced Northwestern in the quarterfinals. MSU struggled in the game and appeared to be headed toward a second-straight early exit from only the second-ever Big Ten tournament, but Matteen Cleaves hit a clutch shot with 37 second remaining to give MSU a two-point win. In the semifinals, MSU faced No. 19 Wisconsin, the only team that had beaten MSU in the regular season. The Spartans held Wisconsin scoreless for nearly 11 minutes in the second half on their way to 56–41 win. The win propelled the Spartans to the championship game against Cinderalla

, who had finished last in conference, but had made a run to the championship game. With MSU looking to lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and Illinois looking to simply make the Tournament with a win, the Spartans blew out the Illini 67–50 to win their first Big Ten tournament championship. The win gave the Spartans the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Spartans were awarded a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. In a First Round victory over Mount St. Mary's, MSU used tough defense to hold off the Mountaineers, 76–53. In the Second Round, the Spartans faced No. 9-seeded

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. Michigan State used a late 13–0 run to hold off the upset and defeat the Rebels, 73–66. Cleaves led the Spartans with 18 points as they advanced to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, No. 13-seeded

pushed the Spartans and MSU struggled offensively. However, Andre Hutson's 13 points led the Spartans to hard-fought 54–46 win, their 21st straight win. In the Elite Eight for the first time since winning the championship since 1979, MSU faced No. 3-seeded and No. 8-ranked

. Michigan State trailed by as many 13 points early in the contest, but they fought back to beat Kentucky 73–66 to advance to the Final Four. There, they were re-matched against the overall No. 1 seed, Duke, who had defeated them 73–67 early in the season. With the Spartans riding a 22-game winning streak, Duke was able to beat the Spartans 68–62, ending their season.

Roster and statistics

Schedule and results

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Rankings

Awards and honors

*Mateen Cleaves – All-America selection *Mateen Cleaves – Big Ten Player of the Year *Mateen Cleaves – All-Big Ten First Team *Mateen Cleaves –

Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball The ''Chicago Tribune'' Silver Basketball was an award presented annually by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the men's and women's college basketball most valuable players of the Big Ten Conference each season, as voted upon by the league's coaches a ...

*Mateen Cleaves – Most Outstanding Player, Big Ten Conference Basketball Tournament *Morris Peterson – All-Big Ten First Team *Antonio Smith – All-Big Ten Third Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 Michigan State Spartans Men's Basketball Team Michigan State Spartans men's basketball seasons

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

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

Michigan State Spartans men's b Michigan State Spartans men's b