The 2017–18 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans, led by 23rd-year head coach Tom Izzo, played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.

With a win over Illinois on February 20, 2018, the Spartans secured a share of the Big Ten title, their first regular season title since 2012. On February 25, the Spartans defeated Wisconsin to win the Big Ten title outright, their first outright regular season title since 2009. It marked the Spartans eighth regular season title under Izzo. The Spartans finished the 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 a 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).

Following the season, Miles Bridges announced he would sign with an agent and declared for the NBA draft. A few days later, Jaren Jackson Jr. also announced he would enter the draft and sign with an agent.

Previous season The Spartans finished the 2016–17 season 20–15, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place. In the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Penn State in the second round before losing to Minnesota in the quarterfinals. They received a bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 9 seed in the Midwest region, their 20th consecutive appearance in the Tournament. They defeated No. 8-seeded Miami in the first round before losing to No. 1-seeded Kansas in the second round. The 15 losses by MSU were the second most ever under Tom Izzo, behind only his 16 losses in his first season as head coach at MSU.

The Spartans were led by freshmen Miles Bridges, 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, and Nick Ward, 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Offseason

Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Alvin Ellis III 3 G 6'4" 210 Senior Chicago, IL Graduated Eron Harris 14 G 6'3" 190 RS Senior Indianapolis, IN Graduated

Recruiting class

2017 recruiting class On September 15, 2016, five-star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. announced that he would attend Michigan State. He is the son of former NBA player Jaren Jackson Sr. Jackson was listed as the eighth best player in the 2017 final rankings by ESPN. On September 30, 2016, four-star power forward Xavier Tillman committed to MSU. He was considered the best player in the state of Michigan in the 2017 class. Tillman was ranked No. 71 in the 2017 final rankings by ESPN. Tillman and Jackson signed National Letters of Intent on November 9, 2016. With just these two signings, MSU's class was listed as the 14th best in the country by ESPN and 17th by rivals.com.

Two-star point guard Jack Hoiberg, son of Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg, announced he would attend Michigan State as a preferred walk-on. On May 30, the school announced that two-star shooting guard Brock Washington would join the Spartans as a preferred walk-on in 2017.

Early offseason rankings In April, 2017, most early pollsters included Michigan State in the preseason top 25 for the 2017–18 season. These included ESPN (No. 12), Sports Illustrated (No. 8), Yahoo! Sports (No. 11), USA Today (No. 16), NBC Sports (No. 3), CBS Sports (No. 3), Sporting News (No. 5) and Bleacher Report (No. 12). Most of the projections assumed Miles Bridges would not return to East Lansing for his sophomore season. USA Today noted that "leading scorer Miles Bridges is NBA-bound." The Sporting News summarized: "Bridges hasn’t announced his decision yet, but Spartans fans aren’t holding their breath (he’s expected to be a lottery pick)." Following the deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft, many media outlets released updated early top 25 rankings for the 2017–18 season. MSU was a consensus top three team by every major outlet: NBC Sports (No. 1), Fox Sports (No. 2), Sporting News (No. 2), ESPN (No. 3), CBS Sports (No. 3), and Yahoo! Sports (No. 3).

Returning players On April 13, 2017, Miles Bridges, considered an NBA lottery pick, announced he would not enter the NBA draft and would return to MSU as a sophomore. His return led many to project MSU as a Final Four contender for the 2017–18 season. Losing only seniors Eron Harris and Alvin Ellis III, the Spartans returned eight of their top 10 players from the prior season. Bridges was also considered a potential candidate for National Player of the Year upon the announcement of his return to Michigan State. The Spartans returned 78% of their scoring and 81% of their rebounding from the previous year.

On May 8, redshirt graduate student Ben Carter was granted a sixth year of eligibility after the NCAA granted his medical hardship waiver. The Spartans had one remaining open scholarship for the 2017–18 season after Carter was granted eligibility. After missing out on late recruiting targets (Brian Bowen, Mark Smith, and Brandon McCoy), the Spartans had one remaining open scholarship. It was confirmed on August 24, 2017, that the last remaining scholarship would be given to former walk-on Connor George, son of Cathy George, MSU's volleyball coach at the time.

Transfers On May 11, 6-foot-11, 220-pound center Braden Burke announced he would transfer to Michigan State from Robert Morris and be a preferred walk-on. Burke will have to sit out the 2017–18 season due to NCAA transfer rules.

Preseason On the first day of practice, September 29, 2017, Tom Izzo announced that Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn and Miles Bridges had been selected as captains for the team.

On October 20, MSU held its annual Midnight Madness event at Breslin Center. Tom Izzo did not dress up for the event as he had in the past, but there was a man in a black suit, green tie and extra-large head on his shoulders that was supposed to resemble Izzo. Earlier in the day, the school unveiled the $20 million Tom Izzo Hall of History inside the Breslin Center.

Jud Heathcote's death On August 28, former MSU head coach Jud Heathcote, who led the Spartans to their first National Championship in 1979, died at the age of 90. "Michigan State has lost one of its icons today," Tom Izzo said in a statement. "And yet, nothing can erase his impact on the program, the players he coached and the coaches he mentored. Spartan basketball is what it is today because of Jud Heathcote." On September 6, 2017, Michigan State announced that it would wear a memorial patch on their uniforms during the season for former head coach Jud Heathcote who died in late August. The team also announced that the February 10, 2018 game against Purdue would be a tribute game to Heathcote.

Preseason rankings In its preseason college preview, Lindy's Sports ranked the Spartans No. 1 in the country. The publication picked Miles Bridges as Big Ten Player of the Year and the top small forward in the country. Nick Ward was named preseason second team All-Big Ten center while Jaren Jackson Jr. was named newcomer of the year.

The Blue Ribbon Yearbook ranked MSU No. 2 in its preseason rankings. The publication listed Miles Bridges as a second team All-American. Athlon Sports ranked the Spartans No. 2 in the country while ranking Bridges as the No. 1 player in the country. Ward and Jackson were selected as second team All-Big Ten and Jackson was named Big Ten newcomer of the year.

Street & Smith ranked MSU No. 3 in the country while naming Bridges first-team All-American. On September 26, NBC Sports named Miles Bridges the national preseason player of the year. On October 23, ESPN.com also named Bridges the national preseason player of the year. On November 6, Bridges was named an AP preseason All-American, receiving 61 of the possible 65 votes.

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 a unanimous selection to win the conference. The Spartans' Miles Bridges was also a unanimous selection for Preseason Player of the Year.

At the Big Ten media day, the Spartans were unanimous selections to win the conference. Miles Bridges was named the Preseason Player of the Year. Nick Ward joined Bridges on the preseason All-Big Ten team.

Exhibitions On October 23, 2017, it was announced that MSU would play Georgia in Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 29 in a charity exhibition game to help raise funds for hurricane relief.

In the first exhibition game for the Spartans, MSU defeated Ferris State 80–72 on October 26. Miles Bridges left the game in the first half after falling and cutting his head, but returned in the second half. Cassius Winston led the Spartans in scoring with 24 points as MSU avoided the upset from the Division II Bulldogs. Freshman Jaren Jackson Jr. had 14 points, eight rebounds, and eight blocks in his MSU debut.

On October 29, MSU took on Georgia in a hastily planned charity exhibition game in Grand Rapids to benefit hurricane victims. With four stitches over his right eye from the cut suffered in the first exhibition game, Bridges led the Spartans with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Ward had 13 points while Joshua Langford scored 11 as the Spartans won 80–68.

On November 1, it was announced that junior forward Kyle Ahrens would be out indefinitely after aggravating an injury to his right foot.

The newly ranked No. 2 Spartans (in AP and Coaches poll) took on Division II Hillsdale on November 3 in their final exhibition game. The Spartans held Hillsdale to approximately 20% shooting as Nick Ward led the Spartans with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Jaren Jackson added 13 rebounds and 12 points as MSU won easily 75–44.

Regular season

Early non-conference games

North Florida On November 10, the Spartans opened the regular season at home against North Florida. Miles Bridges scored 20 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 13 rebounds as the Spartans routed the Ospreys 98–66. Each Spartan starter scored in double figures: Nick Ward (16), Cassius Winston (12), and Joshua Langford (13). Ward made all six of his shots as the team shot 78% from the free throw line in the easy win.

Duke In a matchup of No. 1 versus No. 2 at the Champions Classic in Chicago on November 14, the Spartans struggled with Duke's 2–3 zone. Bridges, Jackson Jr., and Ward each scored 19 points for the Spartans who shot 50% from the field in the game. However, Duke's Grayson Allen scored 37 points and MSU lost the rebound battle and allowed 25 offensive rebounds as they fell 88–81. Head coach Tom Izzo blamed himself for the loss as he fell to 1–11 all time against Duke. The loss moved MSU to 1–1 on the season.

On November 16, the school announced that forward Kenny Goins had suffered a knee strain in the Duke game and would miss several weeks due to the injury.

Also on November 16, Nike announced uniforms for those teams participating in the Phil Knight Invitational. MSU's uniforms were green with bronze highlights.

Stony Brook