He shook his fist jogging through the tunnel, encouraged chants of "Ball-in-ger! Ball-in-ger!" and then smiled ear to ear for the first time in months.
He earned it.
Senior forward Adam Ballinger, cursed for more than a month by a horrific shooting slump, netted a three-pointer from the left wing with 38 seconds remaining to elevate MSU past No. 19 Indiana on Tuesday, 61-54.
Ballinger, who finished with five points and two rebounds, said he knew it was his shot to make.
It was called for him.
"To be honest, I wasn't thinking about it that much," Ballinger said. "I told myself if I get it, I'm going to shoot it if I'm open."
The reaction from fans and teammates electrified Breslin Center. MSU head coach Tom Izzo went as far as to hug the Bluffton, Ind., native as he ran back to the bench.
"Not much had to be said," Ballinger said. "It just felt good. I think it felt good for everybody."
Not much was said from the Indiana camp either. A sullen Indiana head coach Mike Davis kept his reaction to Ballinger's shot concise and direct.
"It killed us," Davis said. "Killed us."
Izzo, on the other hand, lauded his squad's effort following the game.
"We ain't dead yet," Izzo said. "It's not easy to get off the mat, and I think we did it for tonight for one night. I think we played the kind of basketball that we need to play."
The Spartans (11-8 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) grappled with the Hoosiers (14-5, 4-3) from the get-go. The game seemed for the taking until MSU's defense took control of Indiana, limiting the Hoosiers to two field goals in the game's final eight minutes.
Aside from Ballinger's late-game heroics, Izzo singled out sophomore guard Kelvin Torbert as the game's most valuable player. Izzo said it was Torbert's best game in green and white.
Torbert agreed.
"Just coming out and doing the things I did, I think that helped out our team a lot," he said.
Torbert tied with sophomore guard Alan Anderson in points (12) and minutes (34). Torbert also snagged seven rebounds - one shy of his career best.
Tuesday's upset was proof of how important home-court advantage can be in conference play. The Spartans extended their home record to 9-1 on the season.
"Thank God for our fans," Izzo said. "They were awesome."
The Spartans shot 80 percent from the free-throw line and a gaudy 56 percent from the field. Spartan accuracy from the floor was the best it has been since Nov. 28, when MSU played Montana.
Though Ballinger might have exercised some of his shooting demons with his big-time bucket, he knew not to get ahead of himself.
"This game doesn't mean as much if we don't play this way the next game," he said.
