17 Purdue, No. 14 Wisconsin, and at No. 23 Purdue. The Spartans won the Big Ten conference regular season by three games with a record of 15–1. MSU finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the country. (Ohio State, who finished in second place with a 12–4 record, was later forced to vacate 29 games including all conference wins.) The Spartans earned the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament and faced Northwestern in the quarterfinals. MSU struggled in the game and appeared to be headed toward a second-straight early exit from only the second-ever Big Ten tournament, but Matteen Cleaves hit a clutch shot with 37 second remaining to give MSU a two-point win. In the semifinals, MSU faced No. 19 Wisconsin, the only team that had beaten MSU in the regular season. The Spartans held Wisconsin scoreless for nearly 11 minutes in the second half on their way to 56–41 win. The win propelled the Spartans to the championship game against Cinderalla Illinois, who had finished last in conference, but had made a run to the championship game. With MSU looking to lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and Illinois looking to simply make the Tournament with a win, the Spartans blew out the Illini 67–50 to win their first Big Ten tournament championship. The win gave the Spartans the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Spartans were awarded a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. In a First Round victory over Mount St. Mary's, MSU used tough defense to hold off the Mountaineers, 76–53. In the Second Round, the Spartans faced No. 9-seeded Mississippi. Michigan State used a late 13–0 run to hold off the upset and defeat the Rebels, 73–66. Cleaves led the Spartans with 18 points as they advanced to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, No. 13-seeded Oklahoma pushed the Spartans and MSU struggled offensively. However, Andre Hutson's 13 points led the Spartans to hard-fought 54–46 win, their 21st straight win. In the Elite Eight for the first time since winning the championship since 1979, MSU faced No. 3-seeded and No. 8-ranked Kentucky. Michigan State trailed by as many 13 points early in the contest, but they fought back to beat Kentucky 73–66 to advance to the Final Four. There, they were re-matched against the overall No. 1 seed, Duke, who had