Minneapolis - Alan Anderson's homecoming was miserable - again.

Against Minnesota, the sophomore forward spent most of his second trip to Williams Arena on the bench because of early foul trouble. The Minneapolis native picked up three fouls in the first half and ended up fouling out with 3:18 left in the game.

His final line: four points, two rebounds and three turnovers in 20 minutes of play. To add insult to injury, Anderson missed his only field goal attempt. All of his points came courtesy of a 4-for-4 performance from the free-throw line.

The Spartans (9-7 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) lost 77-69 to the Golden Gophers (9-6, 1-2) on Saturday

Last season in Williams Arena, Anderson fouled out with six points and three turnovers in 20 minutes. The Spartans lost 70-67.

After the game, Anderson was distraught in the locker room. With tears slowly dripping down his cheeks and his hands covering his face, Anderson explained his nightmare of a game.

"I really never got in the flow of the game, a couple stupid fouls that I had knocked me out early," he said. "It's always fun to come home. You always want to do good in front of your hometown, but that's something I didn't do.

"I just let my team down."

Without Anderson in the lineup, the Spartans struggled to find any rhythm.

"It was hard to get in the swing of it, especially when Anderson got in so much foul trouble," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "He's a guy we planned on playing at all four positions."

Izzo added when Gopher forward Michael Bauer - Minnesota's surprise weapon on the afternoon with 21 points - was playing power forward, Anderson was supposed to be the defender. But with fouls changing the game plan, Izzo said that original strategy worked only for 30 seconds.

While trailing 69-65 in the closing minutes, the Spartans grabbed an offensive rebound after a free-throw miss. But without Anderson as an option to play the point, sophomore guard Kelvin Torbert filled in and threw an errant pass, ending the chances for a comeback.

"Down the stretch, to play without Alan Anderson really hurt this team," Izzo said. "You look at the stat sheet and it says he played 20 minutes, but sometimes he was in and out for a minute here and there."

When asked to analyze the state of his team and how he could help MSU climb the seemingly boundless mountain, Anderson - still very emotional - said he and the Spartans will be back.