The 1990–91 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1990–91 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his 15th year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 19–11, 11–7 to finish in third place in Big Ten play. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest region where they beat Green Bay on a buzzer beater by Steve Smith. In the Second Round, they lost to No. 10 Utah in double overtime, 85–84.

The game marked the end of First Team All-American senior Steve Smith's career at Michigan State.

Previous season The Spartans finished the 1989–90 season with a record of 28–6, 15–3 to win the Big Ten Championship. Michigan State received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Southeast region. They beat Murray State and UC Santa Barbara to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they were upset by Georgia Tech in overtime.

Roster 1990–91 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball teamNoNamePosYearHeightPtsRebAst22Jeff CaslerGSR6–00.40.40.245Ron HaleyFSO6–60.40.00.244Matt HofkampCFR6–100.80.40.011Mark MontgomeryGJR6–27.33.35.912Andy PenickGFR6–24.10.60.854Mike PeplowskiCSO6–107.46.50.424Shawn Respert GFR6–30.00.00.021Steve SmithGSR6–725.26.03.735Matt SteigengaFJR6–712.84.92.231Dwayne StephensFSO6–75.24.31.33Kris WeshinskeyGFR6–32.81.10.725Jon ZulaufFSO6–61.31.70.1 Source

Schedule and results

!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season

!colspan=9 style=| Big Ten regular season

!colspan=9 style=|NCAA tournament

Rankings + Ranking movementLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. Poll Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 AP 451921242525NRNR22 NR 25 NRNR NR NR NR Source.

Awards and honors Steve Smith – All-Big Ten First Team

References