| Hc Year: | 6th |
| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 1981–82 |
| Team: | Michigan State Spartans |
| Conference: | Big Ten Conference |
| Captain: | Kurt James |
| Captain2: | Kevin Smith |
| Short Conf: | Big Ten |
| Record: | 12–16 |
| Conf Record: | 7–11 |
| Asst Coach1: | Frank Rourke |
| Asst Coach2: | John Holms |
| Asst Coach3: | William Norton |
The 1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his sixth year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 11–17, 6–12 to finish in a tie for seventh place in Big Ten play.
Due to NCAA sanctions against Wisconsin for providing improper benefits for players,[1] MSU's official record for the year is 12–16, 7–11.
The Spartans finished the 1980–81 season 13–14, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place in conference.
| - | 1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 5 | Kevin Smith | G | SR | 6–2 | 15.6 | 2.1 | 4.5 |
| 10 | Tim Gore | G | SO | 6–4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 11 | Sam Vincent | G | FR | 6–2 | 11.7 | 2.8 | 3.1 |
| 20 | Ben Tower | F | SO | 6–8 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 0.8 |
| 22 | Bill Cawood | F | JR | 6–7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| 23 | Randy Morrison | G | SO | 6–2 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| 24 | Richard Mudd | F | SO | 6–9 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 0.2 |
| 30 | Kurt James | F | SR | 6–7 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 0.3 |
| 35 | Larry Polec | F | FR | 6–8 | |||
| 41 | Derek Perry | F | JR | 6–6 | 8.6 | 5.4 | 1.4 |
| 42 | Kevin Willis | C | SO | 7–0 | 6.0 | 4.2 | 0.1 |
| 43 | Evaristo Perez | F | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.2 | ||
| 44 | Herb Bostic | G | JR | 6–4 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| 50 | Cleveland Bibbens | F | SO | 6–6 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 0.3 |
| 52 | Steve Bates | C | SR | 6–10 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
|-!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=9 style=|Big Ten regular season
Source[4]