After losing in the Sweet 16 the year before to North Carolina, the Spartans returned the “Flintstones” — Antonio Smith, Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell — along with key players such as Andre Hutson, Jason Klein and A.J. Granger.

Peterson and Cleaves, the team’s top two scorers, were now juniors. Smith, who has the third-most rebounds in MSU history, was a senior.

The Spartans started out shaky, losing their third game of the season by one point to Temple in late November. They responded with two wins, but then a dagger that could have ruined the team’s confidence and season. On Dec. 2, MSU lost to Duke by seven points, 73-67, at the Great Eight tournament in Chicago. Three days later, they lost to Connecticut, 82-68.

MSU then reeled off seven straight wins before opening the Big Ten regular season with a 15-point loss at Wisconsin.

It would be more than two months before they lost again.

The Spartans then won 15 straight games to win the Big Ten Championship. They followed that with three straight wins in the Big Ten Tournament to raise another banner.

MSU, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, rolled over Mount Saint Mary’s by 23 points in the first round. They beat Mississippi 74-66 to go to their second straight Sweet 16.

Once there, they beat Oklahoma 54-46 and defending national champion Kentucky 73-66 to go to the program’s first Final Four since 1979.

Peterson was named the Midwest Regional’s Most Outstanding Player, averaging 12.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. Cleaves and Granger were named to the all-regional team.

At the Final Four in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Spartans had a rematch with Duke. With more than eight minutes to go, MSU was within three points with Duke star Elton Brand (18 points, 15 rebounds) on the bench in foul trouble, but they were unable to pull it out.

Smith graduated, while Cleaves flirted with the NBA, as did Peterson. But both came back to East Lansing with one goal in mind: Win a national championship.