In 2004 , Izzo looked to continue his dominant NCAA run . However , Izzo 's penchant for touch scheduling hurt his team as they faced a murderer 's row of a schedule which included three straight losses to No. 6 Duke , in overtime , to No. 14 Oklahoma at the Palace of Auburn Hills , and to No. 8 Kentucky at Ford Field in the Basketbowl . The Spartans followed this losing streak by losing two of their final four non-conference games including at No. 17 Syracuse and dropped out of the rankings . They finished the non-conference slate at 5 – 6 . After a loss to open Big Ten play to No. 21 Wisconsin , the Spartans recovered to win seven of their next eight and six of their last seven Big Ten games . They finished in a tie for second place in the Big Ten at 12 – 4 and 17 – 10 overall . A win over Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals was followed by a third loss of the season to No. 17 Wisconsin . The Spartans received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament , reaching the tournament for the seventh consecutive year . But , for the second time in three years , the Spartans were knocked out in the First Round , this time by Nevada
Big Ten Tournament
2004 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball