1971–72 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1971–72 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1971–72 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by Gus Ganakas in his third year as head coach of the Spartans. They finished the season 13–11, 6–8 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place.

1971–72 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	13–11 (6–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gus Ganakas (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Robert Nordmann Matthew Aitch
Captains	Ronald Gutkowski Patrick Miller
Home arena	Jenison Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 1970–71 1972–73 →

1971–72 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 11 Minnesota	11	–	3		.786			17	–	6		.739
No. 19 Ohio State	10	–	4		.714			18	–	6		.750
No. 17 Indiana	9	–	5		.643			17	–	8		.680
Michigan	9	–	5		.643			14	–	10		.583
Michigan State	6	–	8		.429			13	–	11		.542
Wisconsin	6	–	8		.429			13	–	11		.542
Purdue	6	–	8		.429			12	–	12		.500
Illinois	5	–	9		.357			14	–	10		.583
Iowa	5	–	9		.357			11	–	13		.458
Northwestern	3	–	11		.214			5	–	18		.217
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1970–71 season 10–14, 4–10 in Big Ten play, to finish in a tie for seventh place.

Roster and statistics

1971–72 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No	Name	Pos	Year	Height	Pts	Reb
10	Brad VanPelt	F	JR	6–5	1.2	1.2
11	Gary Ganakas	G	JR	5–5	4.8	2.3
15	John Benington	G	JR	6–1	0.4	–
21	Tery Fagan	G	SO	5–11	0.4	–
22	Bill Kilgore	C	JR	6–7	14.8	11.1
24	Ron Gutkowski	F	SR	6–6	3.3	2.3
25	Billy Joe DuPree	F	SR	6–4	1.0	–
31	Mike Robinson	G	SO	5–11	24.8	3.0
32	Jeff VanderLende	C	JR	6–7	–	–
34	Tyrone Lewis	G	SO	6–1	2.7	1.1
35	Pat Miller	G	SR	6–2	9.2	5.4
41	Allen Smith	F	JR	6–7	9.0	5.6
42	Brian Breslin	F	JR	6–5	8.0	5.5
44	Mike Ridley	F	SO	6–4	1.5	0.6
43	William Cohrs	C	SR	6–6	0.4	1.2

Source^[1][2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1971*		at Missouri	L 67–77	0–1	Brewer Fieldhouse  Columbia, MO
Dec 4, 1971*		South Alabama	W 87–72	1–1	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Dec 11, 1971*		Western Michigan	W 66–65	2–1	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Dec 13, 1971*		at No. 7 Kentucky	W 91–85	3–1	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
Dec 17, 1971*		vs. Colorado State Volunteer Classic semifinals	W 67–63	4–1	Stokely Center  Knoxville, TN
Dec 18, 1971*		at Tennessee Volunteer Classic championship	L 61–85	4–2	Stokely Center  Knoxville, TN
Dec 20, 1971*		at Butler	W 77–71	5–2	Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
Dec 27, 1971*		vs. Texas A&M Bluebonnet Classic semifinals	W 67–65	6–2	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, TX
Dec 28, 1971*		at Houston Bluebonnet Classic championship	L 73–106	6–3	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, TX
Jan 8, 1972		at Michigan Rivalry	L 75–83	6–4 (0–1)	Crisler Arena  Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 11, 1972		Wisconsin	W 83–76	7–4 (1–1)	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Jan 18, 1972		at Northwestern	L 69–76	7–5 (1–2)	Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
Jan 22, 1972		No. 17 Minnesota	L 57–67	7–6 (1–3)	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Jan 29, 1972		Indiana	W 83–73	8–6 (2–3)	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Feb 1, 1972*		Notre Dame	W 98–74	9–6	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Feb 5, 1972		at Indiana	L 69–83	9–7 (2–4)	Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
Feb 8, 1972		Illinois	W 89–79	10–7 (3–4)	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Feb 12, 1972		at Iowa	W 100–91	11–7 (4–4)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
Feb 19, 1972		at Purdue	L 68–92	11–8 (4–5)	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, IN
Feb 26, 1972		Iowa	L 98–102	11–9 (4–6)	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Feb 29, 1972		at Wisconsin	L 74–101	11–10 (4–7)	Wisconsin Field House  Madison, WI
Mar 4, 1972		No. 16 Michigan	W 96–62	12–10 (5–7)	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
Mar 7, 1972		at Ohio State	L 73–92	12–11 (5–8)	St. John Arena  Columbus, OH
Mar 11, 1972		Northwestern	W 57–54	13–11 (6–8)	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. Source^[3]^[2]

References

1. "1971-72 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
2. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
3. "1971-72 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.