After spurning Purdue and Indiana in favor of the MSU men’s basketball program, Dawson was asked to perform in front of nearly 14,000 fans, hoping to see him fail.

But as Dawson had shown many times before, he wouldn’t fail.

Dawson finished with a career-high 20 points to carry the No. 12 Spartans (20-4 overall,
9-2 Big Ten) to a 78-65 win over Purdue (12-12, 5-6). The game topped Dawson’s
previous career high of 18 points, which he set on Jan. 31 against Wisconsin.

“It was definitely an exciting game,” Dawson said. “My mom texted me and told me to
just play ball and play my game and stay solid. The coaches and friends were telling me
the same thing. It was gonna be an electrifying the crowd atmosphere so I just tried to
play my game and stay solid.”

Senior center Derrick Nix and junior guard Keith Appling each put forth solid
performances with 17 points apiece while junior center Adreian Payne also finished in
double figures with 12 points in the winning effort.

Dawson said his goal was just to remain focused at the task at hand, which worked in
his favor against the Boilermakers.

“Of course I heard the boos; everyone in the arena heard the boos,” he said. “Like I
said, stay focused and my mom and my family members and coaches just told me to
play my game. I knew they were going to come after me.”

The game served as a lesson for Appling, who fouled out when the Spartans last
were in the state of Indiana in a Jan. 27 loss to the Hoosiers.

After getting into foul trouble early, Appling was able to settle down and serve as a
catalyst of MSU’s offense, especially in the second half where he had 14 of his 17
points on the evening.

Appling said his objective was to play smart and remain in the game to help his team
have the best chance to win the game.

“I pretty much learned from the whole Indiana experience, as I recall it,” Appling said.
“You know, I got back in the game there and committed a couple more fouls and when I
got back in the game tonight, I wanted to be smart and not take any chances. I did that
and I was able to make some things happen on the offensive end by keeping myself in
the game and getting in the flow of things.”

With the win, the Spartans move into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a
key matchup on Tuesday at Breslin Center against No. 3 Michigan (9 p.m.,
ESPN).

It also marks the best 24-game start for the program under head coach Tom Izzo since
the 2000-01 season, which carries weight given the amount of injuries the team has
suffered this season.

This week, freshman guard Gary Harris suffered back spasms and sophomore guard Travis
Trice — a recipient of two head injuries — was kept out of the second consecutive game Saturday after getting injured in a Jan. 31 win over Illinois.

After the game, Izzo said he was satisfied his team was able to avoid a trap game and
get a big conference victory on the road.

“Well I must admit this was a big game for us,” Izzo said.” It was I think a team that
really concerned me. … We felt like they were going to pressure our guards and they
did pressure us.

“We did OK not turning it over very much but we didn’t get into much either. That was
the one reason we were able to go inside and I thought that was the difference in the
game – we were able to get the ball in there.”