The 2019–20 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans were led by 25th-year head coach Tom Izzo and play their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.
With a win against Ohio State on March 8, 2020, the Spartans earned a share of their third straight Big Ten regular season championship. The Spartans finished the season 22–9, 14–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for first place. Their season ended following the cancellation of postseason tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On January 5, in a game against rival Michigan, senior point guard Cassius Winston recorded nine assists to move his career total over 800 making him the first Big Ten basketball player to ever record more than 1,600 points and 800 assists in a career. On January 17, Winston recorded his 817th career assist moving him past Mateen Cleaves for the most assists in Big Ten history.
Cassius Winston was a consensus All-American for the second consecutive year, becoming only the second Spartan to become an All-American in more than one season. Winston is one of only four players in Division I history with at least 1,900 points and 850 assists for a career and was one of just seven Division I players to average at least 18.0 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per game on the season.
With a win over Maryland on February 29, Tom Izzo earned his 300th career Big Ten win, leaving him 53 victories behind the all-time leader Bob Knight. The Spartans began the season as the preseason No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches polls for the first time in school history.
Previous season The Spartans finished the 2018–19 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, 2019 marked Tom Izzo's 600th career win. The Tournament win marked the school's sixth tournament championship, the most in the Big Ten. As a result of the Tournament victory, the Spartans received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Region. In the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, MSU defeated No. 15-seeded Bradley two days before beating No. 10-seeded Minnesota to advance to the team's first Sweet Sixteen since 2015. In the regional semifinals, the Spartans 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 head coach, Tom Izzo. In the National Semifinals, Michigan State lost to No. 3-seed Texas Tech.
The Spartans were led by Big Ten Player of the Year, junior Cassius Winston, who won the NCAA Tournament East Region's award for Most Outstanding Player, averaging 18.9 points and 7.5 assists per game on the season. He and sophomore Xavier Tillman were both selected for the East Region All-Tournament team.
Offseason
Departures On April 19, 2019, Nick Ward announced he would declare for the NBA draft and sign with an agent. He announced he did not intend to return to MSU despite new draft rules which would allow him to do so. Ward was not selected for the NBA draft. Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown NotesKenny Goins25F6'7"230RS SRTroy, MIGraduatedMatt McQuaid20G6'5"200SRDuncanville, TXGraduatedNick Ward44F6'9"245JRGahanna, OHturned pro
Returning players On April 19, 2019, Cassius Winston announced he would not enter the NBA draft and would return to school for his senior season.
Recruiting class On September 22, 2018, four-star point guard Rocket Watts committed to the Spartans. On November 1, 2018, four-star forward Malik Hall committed to MSU. On December 6, MSU once again missed out on a top recruit as No. 2-ranked Vernon Carey chose Duke over the Spartans. On March 10, 2019, the day after witnessing MSU defeat Michigan to win a share of the Big Ten championship, three-star forward Julius Marble announced he had committed to MSU.
Incoming transfers On May 28, 2019, Marquette forward Joey Hauser announced he would transfer to MSU. On September 11, Tom Izzo stated that the school had requested a waiver from the NCAA to allow Hauser to play in the 2019–20 season, but Izzo did not expect the waiver to be granted. Izzo later announced that the waiver had been denied, but that the school had appealed the ruling. On November 21, Izzo announced that the appeal had formally been denied. Izzo stated he was "devastated" by the denial and announced he had resigned from his position on the board of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Hauser sat out the 2019–20 season as a result, but will have at least two years of eligibility left beginning in the 2020–21 season.
Early offseason rankings In April 2019, most early pollsters listed Michigan State as the No. 1 team in the country for the 2019–20 season. These included ESPN (No. 1), Sports Illustrated (No. 1), Yahoo! Sports (No. 1), USA Today (No. 1), NBC Sports (No. 1), CBS Sports (No. 1), and Bleacher Report (No. 1). Only the Sporting News failed to list MSU No. 1 instead listing them as No. 2.
In a poll of over 100 college basketball coaches conducted by CBS Sports, the Spartans were picked to win the 2020 National Championship, receiving a record 54% of the votes. Cassius Winston was selected as the best player for the season, receiving a record 50% of the votes.
Preseason
Preseason rankings In its preseason college preview, Lindy's Sports ranked Michigan State No. 1 in the country and picked the Spartans to win the Big Ten. Athlon Sports also ranked MSU as No. 1 in the country and also picked the Spartans to win the Big Ten. NBC Sports and Street and Smith also named MSU No. 1 in the country.
For the first time in school history, the Spartans were ranked No.1 in the Preseason AP Poll. The Spartans were also ranked No. 1 in the preseason Coaches Poll, also for the first time in school history.
Preseason Big Ten polls Prior to the conference's annual media day, unofficial awards and a poll were chosen by a panel of 28 writers, two for each team in the conference. Michigan State was the near unanimous selection to win the conference, receiving 27 of 28 first-place votes.
At Big Ten media day, Cassius Winston was a unanimous selection as the preseason player of the year. Winston was also a unanimous selection to the 10-member All-Big Ten Preseason Team. Xavier Tillman was also selected to the team.
CBS Sports picked MSU to win the Big Ten while naming Winston as the Preseason Player of the Year and Tom Izzo as Preseason Coach of the Year.
Preseason awards CBS Sports named Cassius Winston to the Preseason All-American first team and picked him as Preseason Player of the Year. CBS also named Tom Izzo as the Preseason Coach of the Year.
Winston was named to the preseason watch list for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. Xavier Tillman was named to the preseason watch list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. Joshua Langford was named to the preseason watch list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
Preseason scrimmage For the second straight season, the Spartans lost to Gonzaga in a preseason scrimmage, this time the scrimmage occurred in Denver, Colorado on October 19, 2019. Cassius Winston led the Spartans with 20 points and seven assists. Aaron Henry added 13 points while Xavier Tillman scored six points and had 10 rebounds. MSU lost 103–87 in the scrimmage.
Joshua Langford injury On October 22, Tom Izzo announced that Joshua Langford, who only played in 13 games the previous season due to a foot injury, had suffered a setback and would not be able to play to start the season. Izzo said Langford would be out indefinitely and would be reevaluated in January 2020. On December 19, Izzo announced that Langford would be out for the season and would not return.
Exhibition On October 29, the Spartans played an exhibition game at Breslin Center against Albion College. Cassius Winston's two younger brothers, Zach and Khy, were on the Albion team, though Zach did not play due to an injury. Mark "Rocket" Watts started as the shooting guard with Langford out and Thomas Kithier started at power forward. Xavier Tillman led MSU with 19 points and eight rebounds while Winston scored 16 points and added nine assists. Kithier grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds as the Spartans used several different lineups in the tune-up prior to the season opener on November 5. MSU won easily 85–50.
Regular season
Early non-conference games
Kentucky The Spartans took on No. 2-ranked Kentucky to open the season on November 5 at the Champions Classic. The game was played at Madison Square Garden in New York. MSU trailed for most of the game, falling behind every time they were able to move close to the Wildcats. Cassius Winston led the Spartans with 21 points, but no other Spartan scored more than Gabe Brown's 10 points. MSU shot less than 20% from three and under 40% from the floor. They were able to narrow the Kentucky lead to two points with just over a minute remaining, but were unable to complete the comeback, losing 69–62. The Spartans turned the ball over 15 times in the loss.
Binghamton
MSU returned home to take on Binghamton in their home opener on November 10. Shortly before the game, it was revealed that Cassius Winston's brother Zach had been hit by a train and died the night before. It was later announced that Zach had committed suicide. Winston chose to play in the game and scored 17 points and dished out 11 assists. Xavier Tillman also scored 17, while Aaron Henry had 16 and Marcus Bingham Jr. had 13. The Spartans led by 31 at the half and won easily, 100–47. MSU continued to struggle from three, making only 28% of their three-pointers, but did shoot over 63% from the floor and had only four turnovers in the easy win. Michigan State had a moment of silence before the game in Zach Winston's memory. The win evened MSU's record at 1–1 on the season.
Seton Hall The newly third-ranked Spartans traveled to take on No. 12 Seton Hall in Newark, New Jersey on November 14 as part of the Gavitt Tipoff games. Seton Hall guard Myles Powell, who suffered an ankle injury in his team's previous game, surprisingly started and scored 37 points against the Spartans as the game remained tight throughout. Cassius Winston, playing in his second game since his brother's death, scored 21 points for the Spartans, but it was Malik Hall who helped the Spartans to the win, scoring 17 points in 19 minutes on a perfect 7–7 from the floor. Rocket Watts added a clutch three-pointer after missing a layup on the prior possession to keep the Spartans in the game. Due mostly to Hall's 3–3 from three, the Spartans shot 44% from behind the arc. Hall hit the game-winning layup with less than a minute remaining as the Spartans pulled out the 76–73 win. The Spartans moved to 2–1 on the season with the win.
Charleston Southern The Spartans returned home to face Charleston Southern on November 18. Aaron Henry did not play in the game due to ankle injuries suffered in the Seton Hall game. Xavier Tillman scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as MSU destroyed Charleston Southern 94–46. Gabe Brown made his first career start and scored 12 points including a couple of impressive dunks. Rocket Watts scored a career-high 11 in the win. Following the game, Winston addressed the crowd in his first public comments since the loss of his brother. MSU moved to 3–1 with the win.
Maui Invitational
Virginia Tech