Remember When Michigan State Broke the Globetrotter’s Massive Win Streak?

I can't remember ever hearing about a Globetrotters loss. But it does happen. In 1971, they had their last official loss to their long-time road warrior foes, the Washington Generals, and in 1995, their LAST official loss, came at the hands of the Kareemabdul-Jabbar all-star team.

But unofficially, once in a while, the Globetrotters will drop an exhibition game against some other all-star team, or college looking to welcome a challenge, and one of the last times that happened, was back in 2000, when Michigan State ended one of the longest winning streaks in Globetrotters history.

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The Globetrotters aren't affiliated with any specific league these days. They're more of a traveling live show than anything else, but one thing they still have to do well, and sharpen their skills at, is playing basketball well.

Many of the players on the team were former college stars who just didn't quite cut through to the NBA, OR, they just haven't made their way into the league yet. They need to keep their game sharp, so once in a while, they'll schedule games against other teams, and all-star groups that AREN'T the Washington Generals.

Back in 2000, one of those teams was the Michigan State Spartans. At the time, Sparty was ranked 5th in the nation, so it was a good challenge for the Globetrotters, AND for MSU.

That fateful day, Nov. 28, 2000, Sparty came out big, and maintained a lead through almost all of the second half of the game. jumping out to a 43-39 lead after an 8-0 run sparked by Jason Richardson, Michigan State would pull away to lead 64-51 with just 3:55 left in the game.

Tyson Wheeler of the Globetrotters would chip away at that lead with his 3-point shooting skills, and with 47 seconds left, Alex Sanders' pulled off a four-point play that brought Harlem within 4 of the Spartans.

With only 39 seconds left in the game, The Globetrotters had cut the lead to just two, but a layup from Charlie Bell, plus two free throws with 3.7 seconds left iced the game, and gave Michigan State the 72-68 win.

Not only was it a massive accomplishment, but it shattered records held by the Globetrotters, including snapping a 1,270-game winning streak that they'd held since their LAST loss in 1995 to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar All-Star Team.

Why Were the Globetrotters Playing College Teams?

In the late 80s, and early 90s, the Globetrotters were almost exclusively playing the Generals, but during their prime, they would still branch out, and "barnstorm" some colleges, and all-star teams in exhibition play. Looking even further back, the Globetrotters even beat

When former Globetrotter Mannie Jackson bought the team in 1993, he wanted to bring that back, and started scheduling more exhibition games again. In speaking with ESPN back in 1997, he said at one time, the Globetrotters were, "without a doubt," one of the premiere barnstorming teams in the world.

"When I took the team over in 1993, we had lost that competitive edge -- the ability to compete as a barnstorming team. I felt with the emergence of basketball all over the world and independent teams in this country that wanted to test their mettle against good pros, that there was a market again for barnstorming basketball."

In 1997, ne brought the tradition back, and began playing college teams again, 35 years after their last, and they didn't lose a single game to a college team... until Nov. 28th, 2000, when the Spartans took down the World Famous Globetrotters.