When a basketball program has made the NCAA tournament 18 consecutive seasons and 29 overall, there are bound to be a few disappointments. Even though the good far outweighs the bad in this instance, sometimes it is those rare, early exits that stick with coaches, players and fans the longest.
MSU basketball boasts an impressive 59-27 overall record in the NCAA tournament. Of those 27 losses, here are the three that were the most disappointing.
3) 2014 – Elite Eight – Lost to No. 7 Connecticut 60-54
While it seems hard to call a No. 4 seed reaching the Elite Eight a disappointment, MSU was actually one of the favorites to win the tournament. Even President Barack Obama picked the Spartans to go all the way in his bracket. Some people were calling this team Izzo’s best chance to win another national championship.
The Spartans finally got healthy and started hitting their stride late in the season. They won the Big Ten tournament and took down No. 1 seed Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen. All that was standing in the way of Izzo’s seventh Final Four was No. 7 seed Connecticut.
The Huskies would go on to defeat MSU 60-54 and win the NCAA championship.
2) 2011 – First Round – Lost to No. 7 UCLA 78-76
While 2010-2011 was an underwhelming season in general for MSU, it still had the talent — and Izzo — to make some think it could spark some magic in March. The Spartans entered the tournament as a No. 10 seed and had a first-round matchup with UCLA.
Even though MSU finished the regular season 19-15 overall and had a .500 record in conference, the roster still boasted names such as Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, Draymond Green and two freshmen — Keith Appling and Adreian Payne.
What made the two-point loss even more heartbreaking for the Spartans was they had found themselves down by as much as 23 points in the second half. Draymond Green finished with just the seventh official triple-double in NCAA tournament history. After making the Final Four the two previous years, the Spartans were sent home on the first weekend.
1) 1995 – First Round – Lost to No. 14 Weber State 79-72
The Spartans went 22-6 in the regular season and earned themselves a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. MSU was led by the future-NBA backcourt of Eric Snow and Shawn Respert and finished second in the Big Ten. Still, the Spartans lost to Big Sky tournament champions — a game where they were outscored by 16 points in the second half.
What made this particular loss so disappointing was the fact Jud Heathcote was coaching his last game at MSU. Heathcote had announced his plan for retirement before the tournament started. Many thought that the Spartans would go out and play inspired basketball for their head coach, but it wasn’t enough.
