The 2013–14 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 2013–14 college basketball season. The Spartans, led by 19th-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 ...

, 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 ...

as 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 with a record of 29–9, 12–6 to finish in a tie for second place in Big Ten play. As the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament, the Spartans 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

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

(avenging to regular season losses to the Wolverines) to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, MSU's 17th straight trip. As the No. 4 seed in the East region, they defeated

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, and No. 1-seeded

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

to reach the Elite Eight where they lost to eventual National Champion, UConn. The loss marked the first time in Tom Izzo's career that a player who played four years for Izzo had failed to reach a Final Four.

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 2012–13 season with an overall record of 27–9, 13–5 to finish in second place in the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

. Michigan State received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, their 16th straight trip to the Tournament, and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to

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 ...

Offseason

The Spartans lost Derrick Nix (9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game) to graduation following the season.

2013 recruiting class

Coach Tom Izzo heavily recruited number two overall recruit Jabari Parker for his 2013 class hoping to make it the centerpiece for the recruiting class. Michigan State, however, lost out to

on Parker and other top recruits.

Season summary

Michigan State began the season looking to continue Tom Izzo's Final Four streak: every player who had played four years for Izzo had made at least one Final Four. For the first time under Izzo, the team selected no captains. Seniors Adreian Payne (16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game) and Keith Appling (11.2 points and 4.5 assists per game), junior Branden Dawson (11.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game), and sophomore Gary Harris (16.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game) led the Spartans as they looked to continue Izzo's Final Four streak. MSU started the preseason ranked No. 2 overall and, after beating No. 1

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 ...

in the Champions Classic, the Spartans moved to the No. 1 spot. The Spartans held the No. 1 spot for three weeks while beating Columbia, Portland,

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, and

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 win the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. They surrendered the No. 1 ranking with a loss 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 ...

in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Spartans cruised through the remaining non-conference schedule, A win at

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 ...

topped off an 11–1 non-conference record and left the Spartans ready to begin the Big Ten season ranked No. 5 in the country. The Spartans won their first seven conference games with wins over

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

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 ...

(twice),

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 ...

, Northwestern,

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. 3

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 ...

. Without Dawson and Payne due to injuries, MSU lost its first Big Ten game at home to No. 21

in East Lansing on a College Gameday game. The Spartans also lost to Georgetown in a non-conference game at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

on February 1. Due to injuries to Appling and further injuries to Payne and Dawson, MSU lost five of their last eight conference games to finish in a second-place tie with

at 12–6. Michigan State finished the regular season at 23–8 overall and ranked No. 22 in the country. The Spartans, finally healthy and at full strength, beat Northwestern, No. 12 Wisconsin, and No. 8 Michigan to capture the Big Ten tournament championship. This marked Michigan State's fourth tournament championship, tying them with Ohio State for the conference record. As a result, MSU earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 17th consecutive year. Michigan State received the No. 4 seed in the East Region. With wins against

and

, they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the third straight year and the 12th time 17 years. They defeated No. 1-seeded

in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. There they fell to No. 7 seed and eventual National Champion, UConn. With the loss, Tom Izzo's Final Four streak ended. Shortly after the season, Gary Harris declared for 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 ...

Roster

Schedule and results

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Player statistics

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

Awards and honors

* Keith Appling - All Big Ten Honorable Mention, NABC All-District Second Team * Branden Dawson - Most Outstanding Player, Big Ten tournament * Gary Harris - All Big Ten First Team, NABC All-District First Team, USBWA All-District Team, Big Ten All-Tournament Team * Adreian Payne - All-Big Ten First Team, NABC All-District Second Team, USBWA All-District Team, Big Ten All-Tournament Team * Denzel Valentine - All Big Ten Honorable Mention

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 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 ...

2013 in sports in Michigan 2014 in sports in Michigan Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship seasons