After losing their first Big Ten game to No. 24 Wisconsin , the Spartans won the remaining 15 games in conference . The wins included wins against No. 19 Minnesota , No. 14 Iowa , at No. 18 Indiana , No. 15 Ohio State , at No. 14 Iowa , at No. 22 Minnesota , No. 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 defeated them 73 – 67 early in the season . With the Spartans riding a 22-game winning streak , Duke was able to beat the Spartans 68 – 62 , ending their season
Big Ten Tournament
1999 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
1998–99 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team