The 2015–16 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans, led by 21st-year head coach Tom Izzo, played their home games at the Breslin Center and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 29–6, 13–5 in Big Ten play to finish in second place. They defeated Ohio State, Maryland, and Purdue to win the Big Ten tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their 19th straight NCAA tournament appearance. As the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region, they were upset by No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee in what was, at the time, considered to be one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.
Previous season The Spartans finished the 2014–15 season 27–12, 12–6 in Big Ten play to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid as the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, their 18th straight trip to the tournament. The Spartans advanced to the Final Four, their seventh trip to the Final Four under Tom Izzo, before losing to eventual National Champion, Duke.
Offseason The Spartans lost Branden Dawson (11.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game) to the NBA draft and Travis Trice (15.3 points and 5.1 assist per game) to graduation following the season.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Branden Dawson 3 F 6'6" 225 Senior Gary, IN Graduated and selected in NBA Draft Travis Trice 20 G 6'0" 170 Senior Huber Heights, OH Graduated
Recruiting class The Spartans 2015 recruiting class was ranked 18th in the nation. Leading the class was the No. 22 overall recruit, Deyonta Davis.
Preseason For the first time since 1991 and for the first time in Tom Izzo's tenure as head coach at Michigan State, Michigan State made a preseason trip abroad. Beginning August 22, 2015, they traveled to Italy for 11 days for sightseeing and four games against international teams. The first of the four games was a win against a newer Italian professional club team. They followed up this game with games against the Russian, Italian, and Georgian National Teams on consecutive nights. Michigan State finished the trip 1–3 with a win over the club team and losses to the national teams. Despite the losses, head coach Tom Izzo stated, “This trip was as good as anything I’ve done in my 20 years.” The high points from the trip were Gavin Schilling's performance (17 points each in the final two games) and Denzel Valentine who scored in double figures in all but the last game. Eron Harris and Alvin Ellis III were allowed to travel with the team, but were not allowed to play due to their preseason legal issues.
Prior to the season beginning in November, the Spartans were ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP and Coaches Polls.
Exhibition games The Spartans defeated Northern Michigan 94–53 in their first exhibition game on November 4, 2015. Bryn Forbes led all scorers with 23 points and Denzel Valentine notched a triple double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Though the Spartans only led 38–33 at the half, they pulled away in the second for an easy victory.
In the final exhibition game on November 9, the Spartans rolled over Ferris State 93–57. Forbes again led all scorers with 16 points and Valentine added 15 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Freshman guard Matt McQuaid added nine points and eight assists.
Regular season
Non-conference regular season
November The Spartans began their season at home against Florida Atlantic on November 17, 2015. The Spartans won easily as Matt Costello led the way with 15 points. Denzel Valentine added 13 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. Freshman Deyonta Davis also added 13 points as MSU won the game 82–55.
The Spartans next game was part of the Champions Classic in Chicago, Illinois, playing the No. 3-ranked team in the country, Kansas, on November 18. The Champions Classic, an event that features four premier college programs: Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, and Michigan State, is an annual event where the four teams alternate playing each other. In this match-up of two major college programs, Denzel Valentine led the Spartans's from an 11-point deficit in the second half to an upset of Kansas with a triple double, scoring 29 points with 12 rebounds and 12 assists. It was only the 13th triple double in Spartan history and Valentine's first. Bryn Forbes added 13 points and freshman Matt McQuaid added 9 points on three of three shooting from behind the arc. MSU pulled out the win, 79–73 win.
MSU followed this impressive neutral court win with a home court rout of Arkansas–Pine Bluff, 92–46, on November 20. Javon Bess led the Spartans with 16 points while Valentine chipped in 11 assists. On November 23, as the Spartans moved up to No. 3 in boll polls, they routed Eastern Michigan, 89–65. Davis led Spartan scorers with 16 points, while Costello notched 10 rebounds, and Valentine dished out seven assists.
The Spartans then traveled to Fullerton, California, to participate in the DirecTV Wooden Legacy. In the first game of the tournament on Thanksgiving, a blowout of Boston College, Valentine repeated his performance against Kansas, notching a triple double again (29 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists). The win marked Tom Izzo's 500th career win, all with Michigan State. The semifinals of the Wooden Legacy saw the Spartans facing Boise State on November 27 for a chance to play in the championship game. The Spartans prevailed again for their sixth straight win to open the season. Valentine scored a career-high 32 points with nine rebounds and six assists as the Spartans won 77–67. In the championship game held in the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California, on November 29, the Spartans faced Providence, led by player of the year candidate, Kris Dunn. Former Spartans Magic Johnson and Branden Dawson were in attendance, as was Chris Paul. Bryn Forbes led the Spartans with 18 points. Valentine added 17 as MSU outlasted Providence 77–64. The Spartans finished the month of November 7–0.
December
On December 2, the Wooden Award Watch List was released listing the top 50 players to be considered for the player of the year. Denzel Valentine was included on the list.
The Spartans returned home to open December by facing No. 24 ranked Louisville in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on December 2. Louisville mixed defenses, going from man-to-man to zone, sometimes in the same possession, to take an early lead against MSU. The Spartans again rallied from behind, led by Valentine and Forbes, to beat Louisville 71–67. Forbes totaled 20 points while Valentine had 25. Following the win over Louisville and losses by No. 2 Maryland and No. 1 North Carolina, MSU hosted Binghamton with a chance to claim the No. 1 ranking in both polls. The Spartans demolished Binghamton 76–33. The Spartans held Binghamton to 12 points in the first half and started the game with an impressive display of passing which led to a dunk by Valentine. Valentine himself outscored Binghamton in the first half 13–12. At 9–0, the Spartans were off to their second best start in school history with the No. 1 ranking on the way. When the polls were released on December 7, the Spartans were ranked No. 1 in both polls for only the fourth time in school history.
As the newly minted No. 1 team, the Spartans continued their impressive start by routing Maryland–Eastern Shore, 78–35 on December 9 in East Lansing. On December 12, Florida traveled to East Lansing to face the Spartans. Michigan State took advantage of the match-up to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their 2000 National Championship which they had won against Florida. The Spartans encountered stiff competition from Florida, but prevailed again, winning 58–52, their lowest scoring output of the season. Valentine again led the way for the Spartans, totaling 17 points. The school also celebrated the Big Ten champion football team at half time. They followed the victory with a rout of Northeastern a week later. The win made the Spartans 12–0, matching the best start in school history.
On December 20, Denzel Valentine suffered a knee injury in practice. The injury required surgery to repair torn cartilage the next day and Valentine was expected to miss two to three weeks of games, likely missing games against Oakland, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and, perhaps, Penn State. Though characterized as minor, the injury was expected to have a great effect on the Spartans as Valentine led the team in scoring, rebounds, and assists. Eron Harris would replace Valentine in the starting lineup and be counted on to step up his production in Valentine's absence. Two days later, the Spartans faced Oakland in Auburn Hills. The Spartans trailed Oakland by as many as 15 and trailed by 13 at the half. The Spartans rallied in the second half to take the lead, but were forced to go to overtime to get the win, outlasting Oakland 99–93. Bryn Forbes led the way for the Spartans without Valentine, scoring 32 points and Eron Harris added 27. The win set the record for best start to a season for Michigan State at 13–0 and marked an undefeated non-conference schedule.
On December 28, Tom Izzo's father, Carl, died at the age of 90. Carl and Izzo's mother, Dorothy, were common faces around the Michigan State program. They each accompanied him on NCAA tournament trips over the years.
Big Ten regular season
December The Spartans started the Big Ten regular season still without Valentine on December 29 by visiting Iowa. Iowa controlled the game from the start, limiting Forbes to 3 points and winning by 13, 83–70. Iowa led by as many as 19 points during the game and the Spartans never closed to within 10 in the second half. Izzo characterized the game not as "a disappointing loss. I thought it was a disappointing effort." As a result of the win over the top-ranked Spartans, Iowa fans stormed the court despite having chanted "overrated" before the end of the game. The Spartans closed 2015 with their first loss of the season, falling to 13–1 and 0–1 in conference play.
January
After the loss to the Hawkeyes, the Spartans flew to Texas to watch the Spartan football team take on Alabama in the College Football Playoff. While in Texas, they practiced in freshman Matt McQuaid's high school gym. Following the football game, they flew to Minneapolis, Minnesota to open 2016 by taking on Minnesota on January 2. In Minneapolis, the Spartans rebounded from their first loss of the season by defeating a game Minnesota squad 69–61. Forbes led the way for the Spartans scoring 20 points and Matt Costello added 17. Following the game, Valentine presented Izzo with a game ball in remembrance of his father's death. Izzo attended the funeral of his father the next day.
On January 7, Michigan State returned home for their first home game in 25 days to face Illinois. Denzel Valentine was medically cleared to play for the game, but Izzo held him out of the game. The Spartans did not need him as they romped over a short-handed Illinois team, 79–52. MSU led by as many as 30 points. Forbes led all scorers with 17 and McQuaid set a career high with 10 points. The win moved the Spartans to 15–1 overall and 2–1 in the Big Ten.
On January 11, MSU traveled to Penn State. Valentine was available to play, but did not start. He came off the bench and had a rough start going 0–4 from the field in the first half. Forbes led the way in the first, scoring all of his game-high 20 points in the first half, going 6–8 from beyond the arc. The Spartans led by 13 at the half and pushed the lead to as many as 31 in the second half. Valentine chipped in 10 points in the second half. The win moved the Spartans to 3–1 in conference and 16–1 overall with a rematch against Iowa looming.