In 2010 , the Spartans finished the non-conference schedule at 10 – 3 . The Spartans began the Big Ten season on fire , winning their first nine games and went on to earn a share of the Big Ten championship with a 14 – 4 and ranked 11th in the country . As the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament , they were defeated in overtime by No. 6 seed Minnesota in the quarterfinals . The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament , their 13th straight appearance , earning a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region . A win over New Mexico State and Maryland led MSU to the Sweet Sixteen for the ninth time in 13 years . However , Kalin Lucas suffered a serious knee injury and would miss the remainder of the Tournament . MSU did not seem to miss him and would go on to beat Northern Iowa and Tennessee to advance to their second consecutive Final Four and sixth in the prior 12 years . In the National semifinal , they were defeated by Butler by two points
Big Ten Tournament
2010 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball