The 2012–13

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 ...

represented Michigan State University in the 2 012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Tom Izzo who was in his 18th year. The team played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, MI 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 with a record of 27–9, 13–5 to finish in a tie for second place in Big Ten play. The Spartans lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament to Ohio State. MSU received a bid to the NCAA tournament for the 16th straight year where they reached the Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive year, 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 ...

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 2011–12 season with a record of 29–8, 13–5 to earn a share of the Big Ten Championship. They won the Big Ten tournament to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, their 15th straight trip to the Tournament, and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Offeseason

The Spartans lost

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 ...

(16.2 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 3.8 APG) 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.

2012 recruiting class

Michigan State's top-10 ranked recruiting class, was headlined by 6'4" SG Gary Harris. The rest of the class consisted of PF Matt Costello, PF Kenny Kaminski, and PG Denzel Valentine. Notably, Matt Costello and Denzel Valentine finished first and second, respectively, in the voting for Michigan's Mr. Basketball, MSU's fourth straight Mr. Basketball signee (2011 winner Dwaun Anderson originally signed with Michigan State, but was released from his National Letter of Intent to go to Wagner College for personal reasons).

Season summary

Juniors Adreian Payne (10.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game) and Keith Appling (13.4 points per game), senior Derrick Nix (9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game), and sophomore Branden Dawson (8.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game) led the Spartans. Freshman Gary Harris (12.9 points per game) also played a major role for the Spartans. The Spartans began the season ranked No. 14 in both polls and traveled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to play

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. ...

at Ramstein Air Force Base. The Spartans were stunned by UConn, but rebounded with a win over No. 7

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 Champions Classic. Shortly thereafter, MSU fell to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Spartans defeated Tuskegee at Jenison Field House, their former basketball home on Michigan State's campus in a series of games held to commemorate the "Game of Change" that occurred during the 1963 NCAA tournament. The Spartans cruised through the remaining non-conference season to finish at 11–2 and ranked No. 18 in the country. Michigan State lost their first

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 ...

game to No. 9-ranked

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 ...

, but won their next six conference games. The streak included a win over No. 11 Ohio State. Following a loss to No. 7

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 ...

, MSU again went on a winning streak, winning their next five games including wins against No. 18

and No. 4

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, ...

. The streak ended with losses to No. 1 Indiana, at No. 18 Ohio State, and at No. 4 Michigan in a three-game stretch leaving MSU at 11–5 in conference. MSU rebounded to win the final two games against No. 22

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 Northwestern. The Spartans finished in a second place tie with Ohio State with a 13–5 conference record and ranked No. 8 in the country. As the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament, MSU faced

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 ...

in the quarterfinals. After a brutal first half where the Spartans only mustered 20 points and trailed Iowa 30–20 at the break, MSU responded. Led by Keith Appling and Gary Harris' 13 points each, MSU rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half to pull out the 59–56 victory. The win moved MSU to the semifinals of the tournament against Ohio State. In a hard fought battle, MSU was unable to pull out the victory, falling to OSU 61–58. The Spartans received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, their 16th straight appearance in the Tournament. Led by Derrick Nix's 23 points and 15 rebounds in the game, as the Spartans cruised to a 65–54 win over Valparaiso in the first round. In the second round, Gary Harris led the Spartans with 23 points as MSU blew out Memphis to advance to their fifth Sweet Sixteen in six years. The trip to the Sweet Sixteen also marked the Spartans 11th trip in the prior 16 years. However, the Spartans were defeated by No. 2 seed Duke, who was led by Seth Curry with 29 points, in the Sweet Sixteen. Appling's 16 points and Payne's 14 were not enough in the loss.

Roster

Depth chart

Schedule and results

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Player statistics

Source

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings Source

Awards and honors

* Gary Harris - Big Ten Freshman of the Year * Gary Harris - All Big Ten Second Team * Adreian Payne - All Big Ten Second Team * Keith Appling - All Big Ten Second Team (Coaches); All Big Ten Third Team (Media) * Derrick Nix - All Big Ten Honorable Mention (Coaches) * Keith Appling - NABC All-District Second Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2012-13 Michigan State Spartans Men's Basketball Team Michigan State Spartans men's basketball seasons Michigan State Michigan State 2012 in sports in Michigan 2013 in sports in Michigan