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1979 Michigan State basketball

1979 Michigan State Basketball: Overcoming Obstacles On The Way To History

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The 1979 Michigan State basketball team has become one for the history books. They won perhaps the most storied national championship game ever played, dominated the NCAA Tournament and sent Magic Johnson on to NBA greatness. But this Spartan team had its share of ups and downs along the way and it’s fair to wonder how close they come to missing out on March Madness entirely.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Michigan State came into the season on a high. Magic’s freshman year in 1978 had been an unqualified success, as he joined forces with power forward Greg Kelser to lead Sparty to a Big Ten title and the regional finals in the NCAA Tournament before losing a close game to eventual champion Kentucky. It was a breakout year for head coach Jud Heathcote.

The core talent was all back for a 1979 run. Magic would average 16 points/7 rebounds/8 assists per game in ’79. Kelser averaged 18/9 and underrated center Jay Vincent kicked in 14/6. Johnson was joined in the backcourt by Terry Donnelly, while Ron Charles and Mike Brkovich got the rest of the playing time in a lineup where minutes were heavily concentrated among six players.

Michigan State dropped a 70-69 heartbreaker at North Carolina in non-conference play, but the Tar Heels were on their way to an ACC title and a #1 seed in the NCAAs, so that was nothing to be alarmed over.

The Spartans also beat Oregon State, who finished third in the Pac-10. And there was a rare “non-conference” game with Bob Knight’s Indiana team. The Spartans and Hoosiers met in the Great Alaskan Shootout and Michigan State won a 74-57 game that did not count in the league standings.

Two easy home games opened Big Ten play and wins over Wisconsin and Minnesota seemed to have Sparty riding high. Then the struggles began.

Michigan State lost a pair of two-point road games, at Illinois and Purdue. The Spartans got back on track with a blowout win over Indiana and an 83-72 overtime win of Iowa, each in East Lansing. But Heathcote’s team immediately turned around and lost 49-48 at mediocre Michigan and an appalling 83-65 defeat at lowly Northwestern.

The record was now 4-4 in the Big Ten, four games back of Ohio State, who was off and running to the early conference lead. Iowa had a 6-2 league record, with Purdue at 5-3. It’s important to emphasize that only 40 teams made the NCAA Tournament in 1979, so more than just seeding position and pride was at stake as the Spartans tried to recover from their Big Ten woes.

A Thursday night home game with Ohio State marked the point where the season could one of two ways. The Buckeyes had two great college players in Herb Williams and Kelvin Ransey, who packed a 1-2 inside-out scoring punch. The game went to overtime, but the Spartans won 84-79 and were off the mat.

They followed that win with a victory over Northwestern and a tough 60-57 win over Iowa, who had a good scoring guard in Ronnie Lester and was coached by Lute Olson. Michigan State then won the rematch at Ohio State 73-57 to further tighten the race.

The road trip to Indiana was a key game, not at the top of the standings, but to see which team would fall out of serious contention. Knight’s program had been a bit down since the undefeated NCAA title run of 1976. He had brought in a good recruit in Mike Woodson and would add Isiah Thomas a year later, and win three of the next four Big Ten crowns. But not this year. Michigan State won 59-47 and the Hoosiers disappeared from the radar.

A non-conference win over Kansas, then a fairly mediocre team, was mixed in this recent run in league play. Michigan State’s Big Ten record was up to 9-4, tied with Purdue. Ohio State had come back to the pack at 10-3 and shared first place with Iowa.

The Spartans blew out Michigan by 23 points to keep the streak going and then welcomed Purdue into East Lansing. The Boilermakers had a great center in Joe Barry Carroll and a future NBA guard in Jerry Sichting each playing key roles. Michigan State won 73-67, then beat Illinois 76-62 in what would prove to be Magic’s home finale. Sparty closed the month of February at 12-4 and in a three-way tie atop the Big Ten with Iowa and Ohio State, and Purdue a game back.

There were two games left, and Michigan State went to Minnesota and dispatched the Gophers 70-63. Good news came elsewhere in the league—Iowa lost at home to Michigan and Ohio State was stunned at Wisconsin. The Spartans had clinched a share of the league title and could wrap it up outright with a win in Madison.

Wisconsin was a bad team, finishing 12-15, but they had shown an ability to play spoiler. They had beaten in-state rival Marquette, a program just two years removed from a national title and who would ultimately make the Sweet 16. The victory over Ohio State on the final Thursday of the season was just the start of the Badgers’ closing rush—they topped the Spartans 83-81.

It cost Michigan State the outright title. Iowa blew out Northwestern to reclaim a piece of first place and Purdue beat Ohio State 74-66 in West Lafayette, completing the Buckeyes’ collapse and giving the Boilermakers the third team to gets its hands on the conference trophy.

The importance of the riveting conference race was underscored by the NCAA Tournament bracket—only Michigan State and Iowa made the field. The Spartans were a 2-seed in the Mideast Regional (the forerunner of today’s South bracket) so they had plenty of room to spare, but the different times show how much peril Sparty had been in when they were 4-4 in the conference.

Michigan State had a first-round bye and if form held, they would play the University of Detroit (since re-named Detroit Mercy), the program recently coached by Dick Vitale and who played with a big chip on their shoulder against the big boys of the state, including a near-upset of Michigan in the 1977 NCAAs. But Detroit was upset by Lamar.

It almost certainly didn’t matter, because Magic, Kelser & Co, were peaking, their last outing at Wisconsin nothwithstanding. Lamar was coached by Billy Tubbs, who would later lead Oklahoma to a Final Four in 1988. The Spartans jumped all over him to a 46-27 lead by halftime and won 95-64. They punched their ticket to the regionals in Indianapolis.

They faced 3-seed LSU in the Sweet 16. The Tigers were a rising power in the SEC under head coach Dale Brown. They had displaced defending national champion Kentucky and won the first of three straight conference titles. But they weren’t yet ready to win a game of this magnitude. Magic scored 24 points and handed out twelve assists. Charles was brilliant, with 18 points/14 rebounds. Michigan State again had control by halftime, leading 36-19 and ultimately winning 87-71.

A juicy regional final was set against top-seeded Notre Dame. The Irish were looking for a second straight trip to the Final Four. They were led by small forward Kelly Tripucka, and by an interior player would one day be a fan favorite in the broader Detroit area—Bill Laimbeer, a key player for the “Bad Boy” Pistons that won consecutive NBA titles in 1988-89.

Michigan State shut them both down. Tripucka only scored eight points and Laimbeer was held to seven, while getting just four rebounds. Meanwhile, Kelser destroyed the Irish, with 34 points/13 rebounds, en route to Most Outstanding Player honors. Magic scored 19 and dished 13 assists. The Spartans were again in control by halftime, 34-23 and won the game 80-68.

The Final Four was in Salt Lake City and Sparty got a break they probably didn’t need the way they were playing. The East Regional, where North Carolina and Duke were the top two seeds, had fallen apart with upsets and ninth-seeded Penn, the last Ivy League to make the Final Four had qualified. They had a nice player in Tony Price but were no match for Michigan State. The Spartans got 28/9 from Kelser and a dominating 29/10/10 triple-double from Magic. The score was 50-17 at halftime and ended 101-67.

All the hype in this tournament had surrounded Magic and Indiana State’s Larry Bird, who had led the previously unknown Sycamores to an undefeated season, while winning national Player of the Year honors. Bird didn’t have a lot of help, but his supporting cast delivered just enough for two-point wins over Arkansas in the regional finals and DePaul in the Final Four.

Magic vs. Bird for the NCAA title on Monday night was must-see television and remains the highest-rated national championship game in history. This game is credited for putting March Madness on everyone’s sports radar. The truth is more complex than that, but there’s no question that Monday night in Salt Lake City was a seminal moment in college basketball history.

Seminal it may have been, but it wasn’t a compelling basketball game. Michigan State was too good. The defense locked up Bird and forced him into 7-for-21 shooting. Magic scored 24 points, while Kelser delivered a 19/8/9 line, actually passing for more assists than the Magic Man. And Donnelly hit all five jumpers he took, scored 15 points and was the reliable supporting piece Indiana State didn’t have.

It wasn’t a blowout, but Michigan State led 37-28 at halftime and kept Indiana State at arm’s length the rest of the way in a 75-64 win. The Spartans had their first NCAA basketball title and from the doldrums of the early conference schedule, they had risen to make history.

The Road To The 1979 Final Four

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The 1979 Final Four was a landmark in the history of college basketball. The national championship game of Michigan State-Indiana State, with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, remains the most-watched college basketball game ever. But there were other great stories that have been lost to history–1979 was the last year an Ivy League team made the Final Four, and it was the one appearance on college basketball’s grand stage for a venerable coach. Here’s a look back at how all four–Michigan State, Indiana State, Penn and DePaul made it to Salt Lake City.

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MICHIGAN STATE

Jud Heathcoate became the head coach at Michigan State in 1977 and one year later he had Magic in the fold and they won a Big Ten title. The Spartans reached a regional final in 1978 before losing a close game to eventual national champion Kentucky.

Michigan State’s 1979 team actually came up a little short of its immediate predecessor in terms of regular season success–a loss in the season finale at lowly Wisconsin put them in a three-way tie for the Big Ten crown with Iowa and Purdue, and the Spartans were the #2 seed in the Mideast Regional in this first year the NCAA Tournament bracket was formally seeded.

Magic led the way all year, a first-team All-American who averaged 16 points/7 rebounds per game and had more assists than the rest of the team combined. But he had quality help, most notably Greg Kelser, who averaged an 18/9 and Jay Vincent, with his 14/6 per game average.

In the first game of the NCAA Tournament–with 40 teams in the field, the top six teams in each regional only had to play once on the first weekend–the Spartans rolled Lamar 95-64 behind 31 points/14 boards from Kelser, while Magic kicked in a triple-double, with 13/17/10.

The regionals were in Indianapolis. Michigan State was slated to face 3-seed LSU, while regional favorite Notre Dame was paired up with Toledo. The Spartans again won easily, jumping out to a 36-19 lead at the half against the Tigers and winning 87-71. An unlikely hero in Ron Charles stepped up, with 18 points/14 boards, while Magic scored 24 and dished 12 assists.

Notre Dame had considerable talent of its own. Kelly Tripucka was the top player and he scored 24 in a 79-71 win over Toledo. The Irish also had good college players in Orlando Woolridge and Bill Hanzlik. And they had future NBA mainstay themselves in Bill Laimbeer, who would one day be fighting with Magic in the 1988 NBA Finals, when Laimbeer was with the Detroit Pistons and Magic on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Michigan State’s dismantling of Notre Dame showed how Sparty was peaking at the right time. An anticipated showdown ended in a decisive 80-68 win. Kelser was outstanding, with 34 points/13 rebounds. Magic scored 19 and dished 13 assists. The Spartan defense, in a foreshadowing of what was to come later in the tournament, forced Tripucka into a 4-for-11 shooting game and no one else could really step up.

Kelser was named Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the regional for his performance in the final, although Magic was clearly the better player over both games. Michigan State was rolling into Salt Lake City.

INDIANA STATE

The Sycamores had not made the NCAA Tournament since qualifying three straight years in 1966-68. Indiana State went 25-3 in 1978, but lost in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Then head coach Bob King had a heart attack before the 1979 season began and had to be replaced by Bill Hodges. Fortunately, Hodges had Bird to fall back on.

Bird rolled up 29 ppg and won National Player of the Year. He led the team in rebounding and was second in assists. Carl Nicks was a quality secondary scorer, with 19 ppg and Steve Reed ran the offense. Indiana State finished the regular season undefeated and was the top seed in the Midwest.

The Sycamores crushed Virginia Tech 86-69, with Bird and Nick each going for 22 points and advanced to Cincinnati for the regionals. The Sweet 16 opponent would be Oklahoma, while Arkansas and Louisville battled in the other regional semifinal.

Bird kept right on rolling against OU, with his 15 rebounds keying a massive 47-19 edge for the Sycamores on the glass in an easy 93-72 win. Arkansas had an All-American of their own putting on a show–Sidney Moncreif went for 27 points/12 rebounds in a 73-62 ousting of the Louisville team that was just a year away from a national championship run.

The regional final saw both Bird and Moncreif answer the bell. These two would see plenty of each other in the NBA, as Moncreif led some good Milwaukee Bucks teams that were always nipping at the heels of Bird’s Celtics, even if they usually came up a little bit short. This 1979 NCAA regional final was a harbinger of that

It was tied 71-71 and Arkansas had the ball, when a controversial traveling call was made on U.S. Reed. Indiana State came down. Bird had scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but Moncreif–with 24/8 of his own–didn’t let him get free. The ball went to little-known Bobby Heaton. Today he’s a Congressman from the state of Indiana. In 1979 ,he was simply the guy who hit an off-balance jumper that bounced around the rim and fell through to win the game 73-71.

Memories in Arkansas are long and they haven’t forgotten this game. Reed made a bigger impact on NCAA Tournament lore when he hit a half-court desperation heave in 1981 to beat Louisville. But it was small consolation, as Indiana State was going to the Final Four with Bird as the regional’s MOP.

DEPAUL

Ray Meyer was an institution on the DePaul sideline, having coached the team since 1942. He had never been to a Final Four. The previous two years had seen fellow Jesuit independents, Marquette and Notre Dame, each get there. To make matters worse, Notre Dame had won its regional final in 1978 over DePaul, while Marquette won a national title. Meyer finally got his moment in 1979.

The Blue Demons were built around veterans, in guard Gary Garland and forward Curtis Watkins. Then they got a big addition in explosive freshman forward Mark Aguirre. It was enough for a 23-5 record and a #2 seed in the West Regional.

DePaul’s game with USC was tight at the half, but the Blue Demons’ Big Three delivered. Watkins and Aguirre combined for 52 points/16 rebounds, while Garland scored 17 and handed out eight assists in the 89-78 win. They were going to Provo where a familiar foe awaited–third-seeded Marquette. And looming beyond that was top seed UCLA, which had to play San Francisco in the round of 16.

The victories over Marquette and UCLA followed a similar pattern–the starters logging heavy minutes and using balanced scoring within the starting five to outlast a great individual effort by the opposition.

Marquette’s Bernard Toone was high-scorer in the Sweet 16 game, with 26 points. DePaul answered with Garland, Watkins and Aguirre combining for 53. The Blue Demons also won free throw scoring 16-8 and advanced with a 62-56 win.

UCLA had won with 36 points from Roy Hamilton overcoming a 34-point game by San Francisco center Bill Cartwright. The Bruins pulled away by scoring 58 points in the second half. DePaul had to overcome a similar surge.

In the regional final, Garland, Watkins and Aguirre stepped it up even further, combining for 64 points and DePaul led 51-34 at half. David Greenwood was putting on a show for UCLA, scoring 37 points and the Bruins made a furious rally, but the Blue Demons held them off for a 95-91 win.

To say DePaul’s starters played the lion’s share of the minutes understates the case–Garland, Aguirre and guard Clyde Bradshaw played all 80 minutes of the two games in Provo. Watkins played 78. The other starter James Mitchem played 70. And yet they still won an up-and-down battle with a great team in UCLA in the second game in three days.

Garland was the regional’s MOP and DePaul would get to return to the state of Utah for the Final Four.

PENN

Penn was the dominant Ivy League program of the 1970s, winning the league’s NCAA Tournament berth in seven of the nine years leading into the ’79 campaign. They had been coached by Chuck Daly, future leader of the two-time NBA champion Detroit Pistons and the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team. Bob Weinhauer replaced Daly and kept the winning going, reaching the Sweet 16 in 1978 before losing to eventual national finalist Duke.

The Quakers were led by Tony Price, who averaged 19/8 and was second on the team in assists. Tim Smith and Matt White provided further help down low, combining for 24 points/14 rebounds per game, while Bobby Willis ran the offense. Penn won another Ivy League title and was seeded #9.

The #9 seed gave Penn the opportunity to be the first team to win four games to reach the Final Four. They beat Iona 73-69 in the opening round as Price and Jeff Ruland staged a great battle. Price went for 27/12, while Ruland had 19/15.

No one expected Price to keep it going against top-seeded North Carolina. But he delivered a 25/9 effort and Penn jumped out to a lead, and then held on by hitting free throws down the stretch to preserve the 72-71 shocker. On the same day in the same gym in Raleigh, #2-seed Duke was upset by St. John’s. The day remains known as “Black Saturday” in that ten-mile stretch from Chapel Hill to Durham.

Penn returned to the state of North Carolina for a regional round scheduled in Greensboro. It was also the first time in NCAA history that a regional had been gutted by upsets. Fourth-seeded Syracuse was the only favorite to advance. And Penn kept their run going with an 84-76 win. The difference was at the free throw line–the Quakers were 22/26, while the Orangemen were 12/23. And the Price continued to be right, as the Penn star scored 20 points.

St. John’s beat Rutgers 67-65 behind 22 from Reggie Carter. Thus, an improbable matchup was set. Penn, as the #9 seed, was not only in a regional final, but they were the higher seed. St. John’s at #10, joined them as the two bottom seeds in the bracket playing for the Final Four.

Penn used the same formula–free-throw shooting and Price–to pull it off. They hit 20-for-27 on the line, while the Redmen were 12-for-16. Price scored 21 points and the Quakers prevailed 64-62.

Price was the MOP, and let’s not forget the run of coaches that Weinhauer beat. Jim Valvano was the coach at Iona. Then it was Dean Smith at North Carolina. Finally it concluded with Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and St. John’s legend Lou Carnesecca. Not a bad little coaching run that made Penn the last Ivy League time to reach the Final Four.

THE 1979 FINAL FOUR

Michigan State played Penn in the early afternoon game on Saturday and the Quakers’ dream season came crashing down hard. Magic went for another triple-double, this one with numbers of 29/10/10. Kelser scored 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds. It was 50-17 at the half and ended 101-67.

Indiana State and DePaul in the marquee game provided the entertainment value. Those workhorse starters for DePaul? In this game all five played all 40 minutes. The Blue Demons saw a similar game as those they had won in the regionals play out–balanced scoring from their starters against a singular star from the other team. Aguirre, Garland and Watkins combined for 51 points.

But, meaning no disrespect to Bernard Toone or David Greenwood, this was Larry Bird that DePaul was now up against. Bird poured in 35 points, he hauled in 16 rebounds and he delivered his Sycamores yet again, this one a 76-74 barnburner.

The national championship game on Monday Night has been the subject of books, documentaries and more. And the reporting is basically accurate. It’s transformational effect on college basketball is accurate, and to the credit of historians, they haven’t shied away from pointing out that the game itself wasn’t very good. Michigan State had too much balance and they were a much better team.

The Spartans got an early lead, 37-28 at halftime, and then just kept the Sycamores at arm’s length. Magic scored 24, while Kelser went for 19. Small forward Terry Donnelly went to the corner and popped in all five of his jumpers to give Michigan State another X-factor. The defense suffocated Bird, and he was forced into a 7-for-21 shooting night. Nicks was more effective, scoring 19 points, but the final was 75-64.

Magic Johnson was Outstanding Player of the Final Four and deservedly so. Magic, Bird–and all of college basketball–were off and running.

1979 Sports: Dominant College Champions & Pro Dynasties On Their Last Legs

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The year in 1979 sports carries a special place in basketball lore, as Michigan State’s Magic Johnson and Indiana State’s Larry Bird met in the NCAA final that drew the highest TV ratings in the history of that event and set the stage for a new era in the NBA. That’s fair enough as the prime story of the year. There are a few things that we shouldn’t lose sight of though.

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The first is that the 1979 Final Four provided some other good storylines, with DePaul’s longtime head coach Ray Meyer making his first and only trip to college basketball’s showcase and Penn became the most recent team to reach the Final Four, winning the NCAA Tournament’s first-ever “gutted bracket.”
We also shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Michigan State was far and away the best team. The Magic-Bird storyline works when we take the broader historical view, but the Spartans were decisively college basketball’s best.
And finally, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there was another great champion in college sports, and one that deserves a place in sports history. Bear Bryant’s 1979 Alabama football team dominated its schedule, won the Sugar Bowl going away and won their second straight national title.

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Read more about the 1979 college football season

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Two great dynasties of the 1970s had their final ride in 1979. The Montreal Canadiens won their fourth straight Stanley Cup, and the Pittsburgh Steelers won their fourth Super Bowl title in six years. Each team got stiffer tests than normal this season, and each benefitted from significant upsets that eliminated their most potent threat.
Montreal was not the NHL’s best in the regular season for the first time in their dynastic run, but the New York Islanders proved to be not-quite-ready for prime time. The Islanders were on the doorstep of a dynasty of their own and it would have been great to watch them battle Montreal in 1979. But the New York Rangers got in the way, and upset their crosstown rival in the semifinals, opening the path for another Canadien championship.
Pittsburgh saw the Houston Oilers close the gap on them in the AFC, and if we looked ahead to the Super Bowl, there was the potential for a Steelers-Cowboys battle.
It would have been a rematch and the third time in five years the two franchises had met in the NFL’s biggest game. The fact this was the last year for legendary Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach would have only added to the drama. But the Cowboys were stunned by the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs and it eased Pittsburgh’s path.
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Read more about the 1979 NFL season
The Steelers weren’t the only team the city of Pittsburgh had to cheer. The Steel City enjoyed a rare Super Bowl-World Series Parlay, as the Pittsburgh Pirates were baseball’s best, making an exciting run to win the NL East title, and then winning three straight elimination games to take the World Series.
Read more about the 1979 MLB season

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In the NBA, a standard reading of sports history tells us that the league desperately needed the impending arrival of Magic and Bird. From a marquee standpoint, there’s no disputing that, but from a standpoint of competitive balance, the979 NBA postseason was exciting. The semifinals and finals of the Eastern Conference went the full seven games, as did the finals in the Western Conference. The 1979 NBA Finals were anticlimactic, with the Seattle Supersonics winning the championship in five games, but the playoff ride was an interesting one.
Read more about the 1979 NBA playoffs