2018–19 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans were led by 24th-year head coach Tom Izzo and played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.

With a win over in-state rival Michigan on March 9, 2019, the Spartans earned a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, marking back-to-back championships for the school. It also marked the school's ninth conference championship under Tom Izzo. They finished the season 32–7, 16–4 to earn a share of the Big Ten championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan for the third time on the season to win the tournament championship. The win over Ohio State on March 15, marked Tom Izzo's 600th career win. The Tournament win marked the school's sixth championship, the most in the Big Ten. The Spartans received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Region. There they defeated Bradley and Minnesota to advance to the team's first Sweet Sixteen since 2015. In the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated No. 3-seeded LSU to advance to the Elite Eight. There they defeated overall No. 1 seed Duke to advance to the school's 10th Final Four and eighth under Izzo. In the Final Four, they lost to No. 3-seeded Texas Tech.

Guard Cassius Winston was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, the ninth time a player in MSU history had received the award. Winston was also named to several All-American lists, including the AP and Sporting News first team.

Previous season The Spartans finished the 2017–18 season 30–5, 16–2 in Big Ten play to win the regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they beat Wisconsin in the quarterfinals before losing to Michigan in the semifinals. The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their 21st consecutive trip under Izzo, as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region. They defeated No. 14 Bucknell in the first round before losing to No. 11-seeded Syracuse in the second round. As a result, the Spartans failed to make the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive year, a first for the Spartans with Izzo as head coach. The 16 Big Ten wins for the Spartans marked a school record and the 30 overall wins was only the fourth time in school history that the Spartans had won at least 30 games (all under Izzo).

The Spartans were led by Miles Bridges (17.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game), Cassius Winston (12.4 points and 6.9 assists per game), and Nick Ward (12.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game).

Offseason

Departures On March 28, 2018, Miles Bridges announced he would hire an agent and declared for the NBA draft, ending his college career. On April 2, Jaren Jackson Jr. announced he would also enter the draft and sign with an agent. Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown NotesMiles Bridges 22G/F6'7"225SophomoreFlint, MINBA draftBen Carter13F6'9"235Graduate StudentLas Vegas, NVGraduatedJaren Jackson Jr.2F6'11"242FreshmanCarmel, INNBA draftLourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr.11G5'10"175SeniorNassau, BahamasGraduatedGavin Schilling34F6'9"245RS SeniorChicago, ILGraduated

Recruiting class On April 5, 2016, four-star power forward Thomas Kithier announced he would attend Michigan State. On November 22, 2016, four-star point guard Foster Loyer committed to MSU. He is the son of former Detroit Pistons Head Coach John Loyer. After receiving an offer three days prior, four-star small forward Gabe Brown announced on June 20, 2017 that he will play for the Spartans in 2018. On June 30, 2017, three-star power forward Marcus Bingham Jr. announced he would play for MSU in 2018. On September 11, 2017, four-star small forward Aaron Henry committed to play basketball at MSU in 2018. According to scout.com, after the commit of Aaron Henry, the Spartans had the third best recruiting class in 2018.

Coaching rumors Following a tumultuous season off the court, it was rumored that the Orlando Magic were interested in at least interviewing Tom Izzo for their vacant head coaching position. Shortly thereafter, it was reported that Izzo would not take the job.

Early offseason rankings In April 2018, most early pollsters included Michigan State as a preseason top-15 team for the 2018–19 season. These included ESPN (No. 11), Sports Illustrated (No. 12), Yahoo! Sports (No. 9), USA Today (No. 8), NBC Sports (No. 13), CBS Sports (No. 11), Sporting News (No. 10), and Bleacher Report (No. 19).

Following the deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft, many media outlets released updated early top 25 rankings for the 2017–18 season. Most pollsters included Michigan State in the preseason top 25 for the 2018–19 season: ESPN (No. 9), Sports Illustrated (No. 9), NBC Sports (No. 13), and CBS Sports (No. 11).

Returning players On March 29, 2018, Nick Ward announced he too would enter the NBA draft, but he would not sign with an agent. On May 29, one day before the deadline to withdraw from the draft, Ward announced he would return to Michigan State.

Preseason Shortly after the team started practice in late September 2018, head coach Tom Izzo announced that Matt McQuaid and Joshua Langford had been named team captains.

On October 5, Michigan State held its annual Midnight Madness at Breslin Center. Tom Izzo appeared via a magic trick and the school announced a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1979 NCAA National Championship team led by Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The team announced they would wear throwback 1979 jerseys as they celebrated "40 Years of Magic."

Preseason rankings In its preseason college preview, Lindy's Sports ranked Michigan State No. 10 in the country. The Blue Ribbon Yearbook also listed MSU as No. 10. Athlon Sports also ranked MSU as No. 10 in the country and picked the Spartans to win the Big Ten. The Spartans were ranked 10th in both the AP and Coaches preseason polls.

Preseason Big Ten Poll Prior to the conference's annual media day, awards and a poll were chosen by a panel of 28 writers, two for each team in the conference. Michigan State was picked to win the conference, receiving 24 of the 28 first place votes. Cassius Winston was named first-team All-Big Ten.

At the Big Ten media day, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward were named to the 10-member All-Big Ten Preseason Team.

"Secret" scrimmage On October 27, 2018, the Spartans scrimmaged against No. 3-ranked Gonzaga at Target Center in Minneapolis. The scrimmage consisted of two 20-minute halves that both began scoreless, as well as two five-minute periods for freshmen and walk-ons. Gonzaga won both halves, 58–46 in the first and 52–46 in the second. Nick Ward led the Spartans with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Cassius Winston added 16 points and eight assists, but turned the ball over six times. Sophomore Xavier Tillman also had 16 points.

Exhibition The Spartans played Tom Izzo's alma mater, Division II Northern Michigan, in an exhibition game at Breslin Center on October 30, 2018. The Spartans defeated the Wildcats 93–47 behind Nick Ward's 24 points and nine rebounds. Cassius Winston added 13 points and seven assists as MSU shot 49.2 percent from the field. Only freshman wing Aaron Henry played major minutes for the Spartans as the other members of MSU's five-man freshmen class did not enter the game until late in the first half.

Regular season

Early non-conference games

Kansas On November 6, 2018, MSU faced No. 1-ranked Kansas in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis. The Spartans struggled with Kansas' size on the inside and fell behind by as many as 17 in the first half. Nick Ward struggled throughout the game, shooting only 25% from the field. Joshua Langford, who led the Spartans with 18 points only scored three in the first half as MSU trailed by 14 at halftime. MSU also struggled from the free throw line, shooting only 65%, including less than 50% in the first half. Kenny Goins made three three-pointers and Langford scored 15 in the second half as MSU narrowed the lead to three with less than a minute remaining. However, the Spartans could not come closer, falling 92–87. Cassius Winston had 11 points in the loss and turned the ball over five times. Goins added a career-high 17 points and led the Spartans with 11 rebounds.

Florida Gulf Coast On November 11, MSU opened its home schedule facing Florida Gulf Coast. Nick Ward recovered from his difficult game against the Jayhawks to shoot seven of 11 from the field and made 11 free throws while scoring 25 points to lead the Spartans. MSU's offense showed no issues, scoring 106 points in the blowout of the Eagles. However, MSU's defense allowed 82 points, much to the chagrin of Tom Izzo. Langford added 18 points while Cassius Winston scored 14 and added eight assists as MSU moved to 1–1 on the season.

Louisiana–Monroe Three days later, MSU welcomed Louisiana–Monroe to Breslin Center. Nick Ward left the game midway through the first half with an ankle injury and only played five minutes. As a result, the game remained close through the opening minutes of the second half when Cassius Winston got hot, scoring 13 of his team-high 23 points early in the half. The Spartans then pulled away to win 80–59. Kenny Goins notched a career-high 15 rebounds while Xavier Tillman added 11 points and 13 rebounds in the win. After the game, Izzo said that he didn't think Ward's injury was anything serious.

Tennessee Tech On November 18, Tennessee Tech visited Breslin and Spartans were unkind hosts. MSU obliterated the Golden Eagles by 68 points, tying the biggest win in school history and marking the largest win by a team under Tom Izzo. Nick Ward, started and showed no ill effects from his injury in the previous game as he scored 23 points in 23 minutes. MSU held the Eagles to only 14 first-half points in the win. Cassius Winston added 19 points and six assists as MSU moved to 3–1 on the season, winning 101–33.

Las Vegas Invitational

UCLA The Spartans then traveled to Las Vegas to face UCLA in the Las Vegas Invitational on Thanksgiving. The No. 11-ranked Spartans ran the No. 17-ranked Bruins off the court, taking an early lead and leading 51–26 at the half. Cassius Winston again had 19 points while Nick Ward added 16. Kenny Goins notched 13 rebounds in the blowout as MSU led by as many as 29. Josh Langford added 14 points in the 87–67 blowout.

Texas In the championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational, MSU faced Texas who had upset No. 7-ranked North Carolina the previous day. MSU turned the ball over repeatedly in the early minutes of the game and the Longhorns jumped out to a quick double digit lead. With eight minutes remaining in the first half, Texas pushed the lead to 19 and the Spartans looked out of sorts. However, Josh Langford took control for the Spartans, scoring 29 points as they roared back to take the lead early in the second half. MSU, helped by Cassius Winston's 20 points, held on to notch another double digit win, winning 78–68 to earn the Invitational championship and pushing their record to 5–1 on the season.

Louisville