He's done it again - and this time it was perfect.
MSU senior swingman Alan Anderson once again showed up for his team when it mattered most and propelled the No. 10 MSU men's basketball team to a 77-64 win over No. 20 Wisconsin on Thursday night at Breslin Center.
"Alan Anderson was dynamite, an unbelievable game," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
With streamers hanging and confetti still falling from the rafters after Wednesday's women's basketball Big Ten Championship celebration, Anderson made it his night, making all 9 of his field-goal attempts, hitting all seven of his free-throw attempts and the one 3-pointer he shot, on his way to scoring a career-high 28 points and adding four rebounds.
It was the 10th straight game that Anderson scored in double figures.
"I just played in the flow of the game," Anderson said. "I didn't try to force anything - when I had a shot, I took it, when I didn't, I tried to find somebody else."
Anderson scored 11 of MSU's first 15 points to give the Spartans a 15-4 edge in the first seven minutes, despite the team missing three layups in that time frame.
"That's one of the greatest performances I've seen out of him," senior guard Kelvin Torbert said of Anderson. "We just tried to feed off of him."
Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan was not quick to give credit to the Spartans for taking the early lead.
"Early leads have happened before," he said. "It's nothing new to basketball. Michigan State just happened to have the early lead on us tonight."
Anderson capped his night with a dish to senior guard Tim Bograkos, who drained a jumper from the corner with 6.5 seconds left in the game that brought the already standing crowd to a deafening roar.
Junior center Paul Davis also was solid for MSU, chipping in 13 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. As the game ended, Davis hurled the ball into the air, letting out the frustration that had been accumulating inside.
"When that buzzer hit, all the crap we've been through together just kind of left, and it's gone now," Davis said.
The game ended MSU's six-game losing streak against Wisconsin and its 12-game losing streak against ranked opponents.
"I don't think I could be happier for our players, to be honest with you," Izzo said. "It's not like we conquered the world, but we beat a very good team."
MSU (20-4 overall, 11-2 Big Ten) was able to put a clamp on Wisconsin's 3-point shooting, which harmed the Spartans in the last meeting between the two teams, holding the Badgers to only 6-for-14 shooting from behind the arc.
"The first half, especially, we did a good job of not letting them get many open looks from the three," Izzo said.
Badgers forward Alando Tucker led Wisconsin (17-7, 8-5) with 18 points, and forward Mike Wilkinson had 16 points and seven rebounds.
Junior guard Maurice Ager and sophomore guard Shannon Brown pitched in 11 points apiece to go along with Anderson and Davis in double figures.
Despite the win, the Spartans cannot look past their Sunday game at Indiana, a team still fighting for an NCAA Tournament bid.
"We're still humble about everything," Brown said. "We know we still have a lot to work on."
