The 2009–10 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

2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2009, and ended with the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 5, 2010, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The openin ...

. Their head coach was

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 ...

who was in his 15th year. The Spartans played their home games at the 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 ...

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 ...

. MSU finished the season 28–9, 14–4 in Big Ten play to earn a share of the Big Ten regular season championship for the 12th time in school history. They lost 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 ...

in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed, their 13th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament under Izzo. They defeated

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Northern 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 ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

to advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four, the Spartans' sixth trip to the Final Four under Izzo, 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 pantries, pantr ...

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 2008–09 season 31–7, 15–3 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten regular season championship. Michigan State received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, their 12th straight trip to the Tournament, and advanced to the National Championship game, their second trip to the title game under Tom Izzo, before losing to

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 ...

Offseason

The Spartans lost

Goran Suton Goran Suton (born 11 August 1985) is a Bosnian-Croat former professional basketball player who last played for Movistar Estudiantes of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball with the Michigan State Spartans. Early years Suton was born o ...

(10.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game) to the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

following the season.

2009 recruiting class

Season summary

Michigan State was led by junior

Kalin Lucas Kalin Jay Lucas (born May 24, 1989) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Michigan State University. High school career Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Lucas was listed as the No. 6 point ...

(14.8 points and 4 assists per game), senior Raymar Morgan (11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game), and sophomore

Draymond Green Draymond Jamal Green (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 pos ...

(9.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game). The Spartans began the season ranked No. 2 in the polls following their trip to 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 ...

game in 2009. MSU competed in the Legends Classic and were upset by

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 ...

in the semifinals. In the third place game, the Spartans routed UMass. MSU fell to again to No. 10

in the

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 Confer ...

in a rematch of the prior year's National Championship game. The Spartans finished the non-conference schedule at 10–3, also losing at No. 2

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 were ranked No. 11 in the country entering the Big Ten regular season. The Spartans began the Big Ten season on fire, winning their first nine games, with wins over No. 25 Northwestern and No. 17

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 ...

in the first two games. The winning streak ended with three straight losses to Wisconsin,

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 ...

, and No. 6

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 ...

. The Spartans rebounded to finish 14–4 in Big Ten play and capture a share of the Big Ten regular season title. Michigan State completed the regular season at 24–7 and ranked 11th in the country. As the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were defeated in overtime by No. 6 seed

in the quarterfinals. The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, their 13th straight appearance, earning a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region. Lucas scored a career high 25 points to pull off a controversial win against

in the First Round. In the Second Round, Lucas went down with a serious knee injury and the Spartans needed a three-point shot from Korie Lucious at the buzzer to advance past

. Without Lucas for the remainder of the Tournament, MSU beat

and

to advance to their second consecutive Final Four and sixth in the last twelve years. In the National Semifinal, they were defeated by National Runner-Up,

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Ten regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Ten tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, * All Big Ten Third Team

Kalin Lucas

* All Big Ten First Team * NABC All District First Team * USBWA All-District Team

Raymar Morgan

* All Big Ten Third Team (Coaches) * All Big Ten Honorable Mention (Media)

Durrell Summers

* Most Outstanding Player, NCAA Tournament, Midwest Region

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 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 ...

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 ...

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons 2009 in sports in Michigan 2010 in sports in Michigan