| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 1971–72 |
| Team: | Michigan State Spartans |
| Conference: | Big Ten Conference |
| Short Conf: | Big Ten |
| Record: | 13–11 |
| Conf Record: | 6–8 |
| Asst Coach1: | Robert Nordmann |
| Asst Coach2: | Matthew Aitch |
| Hc Year: | 3rd |
| Captain: | Ronald Gutkowski |
| Captain2: | Patrick Miller |
The 1971–72 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1971–72 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by Gus Ganakas in his third year as head coach of the Spartans. They finished the season 13–11, 6–8 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place.
The Spartans finished the 1970–71 season 10–14, 4–10 in Big Ten play, to finish in a tie for seventh place.
| - | 1971–72 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb |
| 10 | Brad VanPelt | F | JR | 6–5 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| 11 | Gary Ganakas | G | JR | 5–5 | 4.8 | 2.3 |
| 15 | John Benington | G | JR | 6–1 | 0.4 | – |
| 21 | Tery Fagan | G | SO | 5–11 | 0.4 | – |
| 22 | Bill Kilgore | C | JR | 6–7 | 14.8 | 11.1 |
| 24 | Ron Gutkowski | F | SR | 6–6 | 3.3 | 2.3 |
| 25 | Billy Joe DuPree | F | SR | 6–4 | 1.0 | – |
| 31 | Mike Robinson | G | SO | 5–11 | 24.8 | 3.0 |
| 32 | Jeff VanderLende | C | JR | 6–7 | – | – |
| 34 | Tyrone Lewis | G | SO | 6–1 | 2.7 | 1.1 |
| 35 | Pat Miller | G | SR | 6–2 | 9.2 | 5.4 |
| 41 | Allen Smith | F | JR | 6–7 | 9.0 | 5.6 |
| 42 | Brian Breslin | F | JR | 6–5 | 8.0 | 5.5 |
| 44 | Mike Ridley | F | SO | 6–4 | 1.5 | 0.6 |
| 43 | William Cohrs | C | SR | 6–6 | 0.4 | 1.2 |
|-!colspan=9 style=| Regular season