The 1999–2000 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 1999–2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Breslin Center in

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 ...

. They were coached by

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 ...

, 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, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. 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 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 ...

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 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 landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive year. They then defeated Syracuse and Iowa State 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 A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

over

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

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

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 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, they 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 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

. 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 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.

Season summary

Non-conference play

The Spartans were looking to build on their

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

appearance the year before with seniors, Mateen Cleaves (12.1 points and 6.9 assist per game) and Morris Peterson (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 ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

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

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

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

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. 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. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

on the road as part of the inaugural ACC–Big Ten Challenge. MSU returned to East Lansing for easy wins over Howard and Eastern Michigan. A win over No. 5-ranked

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

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

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

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, 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 ...

before losing their first Big Ten game on the road to No. 7 Ohio State. 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 faced the Wolverines as Michigan was without leading scorer Jamal Crawford who was declared ineligible 20 minutes before the game started because of NCAA investigations. Led by Morris Peterson's 32 points and 10 rebounds, MSU had no problems with Michigan, winning by 20. MSU then stepped out of conference for a matchup with No. 7

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. ...

, a fellow participant in the prior year's Final Four. The Spartans easily beat 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 rebounded 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 No. 16 Indiana. MSU returned home and blew out Minnesota 79–43. In the final regular season game of the season, the Spartans faced Michigan again. 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 Illinois 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 Utah. MSU continued their national championship push by reaching their second consecutive Final Four with wins over Syracuse and Iowa State. 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, Wisconsin, beating them in a hard-fought game, 53–41. In the national championship game, the Spartans triumphed over the Florida 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

Schedule and results

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Player statistics

Source:

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 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 ...

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