The 2003–04 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

2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2003, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on Ap ...

. The Spartans 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 ninth year as head coach. MSU finished the season with a record of 18–12, 12–4 to finish in a tie for second place in Big Ten play. The Spartans received a bid to the NCAA tournament for the seventh consecutive year where they lost in the First Round to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

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 2002–03 season with an overall record of 22–12, 10–6 to finish in fifth place in the Big Ten. Michigan State received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, their sixth straight trip to the Tournament, and advanced to the Elite Eight, their fourth trip to the Elite Eight under Tom Izzo.

Season summary

The Spartans were led by sophomore Paul Davis (15.9 PPG, 6.2 PRG, 2.0 APG) and juniors Chris Hill (13.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.9 APG) and Kelvin Tolbert (10.7 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.0 PAG). The Spartans began the season ranked No. 3 in the country and faced a difficult non-conference schedule. MSU fell on the road to No. 6

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 second game of the season. Two wins followed the loss before a murderer's row of a schedule which included three straight losses to No. 6

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 ...

, in overtime to No. 14

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 ...

at the

Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly known as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Opened in 1988, it was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shock of the ...

, and to No. 8

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 ...

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL), the Mid-Americ ...

in the

Basketbowl The Basketbowl was a college basketball game between Michigan State University and the University of Kentucky held on December 13, 2003, at Ford Field, a domed American football stadium in Detroit, Michigan. Kentucky won the game 79–74, never t ...

. The Spartans followed this losing streak by losing two of their final four non-conference games including at No. 17

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

and dropped out of the rankings. They finished the non-conference slate at 5–6. After a loss to open Big Ten play to No. 21

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 ...

, the Spartans recovered to win seven of their next eight and six of their last seven Big Ten games. They finished in a tie for second place in the Big Ten at 12–4 and 17–10 overall. A win over Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals was followed by a third loss of the season to No. 17 Wisconsin. The Spartans received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the tournament for the seventh consecutive year. But, for the second time in three years, the Spartans were knocked out in the First Round, this time by

Roster

Schedule and results

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Player statistics

Source

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

Awards and honors

* Paul Davis – All-Big Ten First Team * Paul Davis – NABC All-District Team * Chris Hill – All-Big Ten Second Team * Chris Hill – Academic All-American First Team * Kelvin Torbert – All-Big Ten Third Team (Coaches), All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (Media) * Shannon Brown – All-Big Ten Freshman Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 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 ...

2003 in sports in Michigan 2004 in sports in Michigan

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 ...