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Anderson enters game despite injury; says it did not affect outcome

February 19, 2003

Champaign, Ill. - The stage was set for a Hollywood comeback story.

But judging from the sour scowl on sophomore forward Alan Anderson's face following Tuesday's 70-40 loss to No. 20 Illinois, the finale was all wrong.

Sidelined 11 days ago by a grisly finger dislocation, Anderson played in his first game since MSU's (14-10 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) thrilling 68-65 win over Illinois at Breslin Center on Feb 2. Though the initial prognosis expected him to sit out until at least Sunday's game against Syracuse, Anderson made his early return Tuesday instead.

Anderson's return, however, didn't come from a speedy recovery. It came by necessity. According to head coach Tom Izzo, having Anderson in the game with "a club on his right shooting hand," was better than not having him at all.

"The Anderson thing, should I play him, shouldn't I play him," Izzo said. "If I don't play him we're not going to be very good the rest of the year.

"The doctor said we could play Alan. So we went with Alan."

Izzo had said Monday that Anderson was not expected to play very much - if any.

Wrong guess.

The 6-foot-6 slasher entered the game at 11:02 of the first half in the midst of a 12-0 Fighting Illini (17-5, 7-4) run. But, neither his heavily taped right pinkie finger nor the entire Spartan squad seemed capable of deflating Illinois' offensive onslaught.

The Illini charged through the first half, riding a lopsided 35-9 run into the intermission. Illinois dominated MSU inside and out, revealing the holes in the Spartans' armor - turnovers and free-throw shooting - that have plagued MSU all season.

Anderson finished the game with four points, playing 19 minutes. He connected on two-of-six shots from the floor.

His court presence was far greater than what Izzo had predicted Monday, but the grimace on his face following Tuesday's embarrassment was clearly not injury-related.

"We started off pretty good and I tried to bring in some energy," Anderson said. "They did a hell of a job pressuring the ball."

The Illini defense did strangle the Spartans' offensive sets regularly. Anderson wanted it abundantly clear that his finger problems had little to do with the entire team's lackluster performance against the Illini.

"It was real difficult," he said of playing with the injury, "But that's not any excuse."

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