Michigan State University Athletics
On This Date: Michigan State Reaches Final Four in 1999, Izzo’s First
3/23/2020 4:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Mich. - On CBSSports.net on Monday night (March 22, 9 p.m. ET), the channel will re-air Michigan State's win over Duke in the 2019 NCAA East Regional, the Spartans' nation's-best eighth Final Four in the last 21 years.
Twenty-two years ago (and a day), on March 21, 1999, the Spartans vanquished Kentucky, 73-66, to reach Head Coach Tom Izzo's first Final Four.
The Spartans won the Big Ten Conference for the second-straight season and made the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year. One year prior, in 1997-98, the Spartans advanced through the first weekend and lost to North Carolina in a regional semifinal.
Michigan State returned to the NCAA Tournament in 1999 with lofty aspirations.
For just the second time in school history, MSU was a No. 1 seed. The Spartans easily handled Mount St. Mary's in the first round, 76-53.The second round was more of a challenge, as the Spartans fought off a stubborn Missisippi squad, 74-66. In the Sweet 16, State took on Oklahoma in a defensive struggle, pulling away late for a 54-46 victory.
In the Regional Final, MSU played national power and defending National Champion Kentucky. Twenty-one years earlier, the Wildcats kept MSU out of the Final Four, defeating the Spartans in the 1978 Regional Final.
MSU fell behind early, 17-4, but rallied to close the gap to one at the half. The comeback was completed in the second half as Morris Peterson's 19 points and 10 rebounds led four players in double figures.
The Midwest Regional's Most Outstanding Player, Peterson knocked down six straight free throws in the last 30 seconds to clinch a 73-66 win. Peterson was joined on the All-Regional Team by A.J. Granger and Mateen Cleaves.
