The Spartans finished the 2004–05 season with a record of 26–7, 13–3 in Big Ten play to finish in second place. Michigan State received a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, their eighth straight trip to the Tournament, and advanced to the Final Four, their fourth trip under Tom Izzo. The Spartans lost Alan Anderson, Kelvin Torbert and Chris Hill to graduation following the season.
Season summary
The Spartans were led by seniors Paul Davis and Maurice Ager, as well as junior Shannon Brown. The Spartans began the season ranked No. 4 in the country. They started by making a trip to Hawaii to participate in the Maui Classic. Before playing in the Classic, however, they played Hawaii and were shocked, losing 84–62. After beating host Chaminade in the Maui Classic, they played No. 8 Gonzaga led by Adam Morrison in the tournament semifinals. The game was an instant classic lasting into triple overtime where the Spartans fell 109–106. In the third place game, the Spartans defeated No. 9 Arizona. The Spartans won their remaining ten non-conference games, including a win over No. 6 Boston College in the Jimmy V Classic, to finish the non-conference schedule at 12–2 and ranked No. 7 in the country. The Spartans began the Big Ten season with back-to-back losses to No. 6 Illinois and Wisconsin. They followed those up with wins over No. 9 Indiana, No. 19 Ohio State in double overtime, and No. 23 Iowa. However, Michigan State finished the conference season losing five of their last seven games. MSU finished the Big Ten regular season with a conference record of 8–8, 20–10 overall, and slipping out of the polls. In the Big Ten Tournament, MSU defeated Purdue and No. 9 Illinois before losing to No. 20 Iowa in the semifinals. The Spartans received an at-large bid as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, their ninth consecutive trip to the Tournament. In the Tournament, they lost to eventual Final Four Cinderella, No. 11-seeded George Mason, in the First Round. Following the season, Shannon Brown declared for the NBA Draft, leaving the Spartans one year prior to graduation, just the fourth player under Izzo to declare early.
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition Games !colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season !colspan=9 style=|Big Ten regular season !colspan=9 style=|Big Ten Tournament !colspan=9 style=|NCAA Tournament
Player statistics
Source
Rankings
Poll
Pre
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 5
Wk 6
Wk 7
Wk 8
Wk 9
Wk 10
Wk 11
Wk 12
Wk 13
Wk 14
Wk 15
Wk 16
Wk 17
Wk 18
Wk 19
Final
AP
4
4
12
13
14
12
10
9
7
14
11
11
12
12
16
18
25
NR
NR
N/A
Coaches
5
12
14
14
12
11
9
7
15
12
12
12
11
16
16
23
NR
NR
-
Source
Awards and honors
Maurice Ager – All Big Ten Second Team, All Big Ten Third Team
