| Coachrank: | 18 |
| Aprank: | 18 |
| Hc Year: | 10th |
| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 1985–86 |
| Team: | Michigan State Spartans |
| Conference: | Big Ten Conference |
| Captain2: | Larry Polec |
| Short Conf: | Big Ten |
| Record: | 23–8 |
| Conf Record: | 12–6 |
| Asst Coach3: | Herb Williams |
| Champion: | Lobo Classic champions Spartan Cutlass Classic champions |
| Bowl Result: | Sweet Sixteen |
The 1985–86 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1985–86 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 10th year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 23–8, 12–6 to finish in third place in Big Ten play. The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. As the No. 5 seed in the Midwest region, they defeated Washington and Georgetown to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they lost to No. 1-seeded Kansas. The wins were the first NCAA tournament wins for the Spartans since 1979.
The Spartans finished the 1984–85 season with a record of 19–10, 10–8 to finish in fifth place in Big Ten play. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 10 seed. There they lost to UAB in the first round.
| - | 1985–86 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 4 | Scott Skiles | G | SR | 6–1 | 27.4 | 4.4 | 6.5 |
| 13 | Darryl Johnson | G | JR | 6–2 | 16.6 | 3.3 | 4.0 |
| 23 | Vernon Carr | F/G | JR | 6–6 | 13.8 | 5.4 | 0.7 |
| 35 | Larry Polec | F | SR | 6–8 | 10.7 | 5.7 | 1.6 |
| 45 | Carlton Valentine | F | SO | 6–6 | 6.0 | 3.2 | 0.2 |
| 42 | Todd Wolfe | G/F | FR | 6–5 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Ralph Walker | F | SR | 6–8 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 0.4 |
| 40 | Barry Fordham | C/F | JR | 6–8 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 0.4 |
| 24 | Mark Brown | G | FR | 6–0 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| 34 | David Mueller | F/C | FR | 6–9 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| 44 | Scott Sekal | F | FR | 6–8 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| 00 | Keith Hill | G | FR | 6–4 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| 55 | Mario Izzo | C | FR | 6–11 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| 30 | Jim Sarkine | F | FR | 6–9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| 22 | Andre Rison | G | FR | 6–0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
|-!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| Big Ten regular season|-!colspan=9 style=|NCAA Tournament