Chicago - He came into the game shooting almost 90 percent from the free-throw line.
He had missed just 10 free throws all year coming into the game.
But in 40 minutes of playing time, MSU senior swingman Alan Anderson missed five free throws, including two crucial misses with 6.5 seconds left in the game that gave Iowa a 71-69 win in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal game Friday at the United Center.
For the game, MSU shot 15-for-30 from the charity stripe.
"Never would I have thought we would shoot 50 percent from the free-throw line," Anderson said. "There's no excuse on my part. I'm the best free-throw shooter. I'm not going to sit here and say it's those other guys.
"I should've knocked those free throws down. I've never shot 50 percent in my life."
Anderson scored 18 points in the game but had a chance to score 23.
It was the same old story for MSU head coach Tom Izzo.
"This is a team that led the nation in free-throw percentage and lost four games at the line," he said. "That, and the layups tonight, were ridiculous."
In the first seven minutes of the game, it seemed as if MSU would run away with the it, jumping out to a 12-5 lead, but then Iowa head coach Steve Alford picked up a technical foul and Izzo decided to send Anderson to the line for the two free throws.
In a sign of things to come, Anderson split the pair, setting a trend for the team that would last the entire game.
Iowa took a 34-30 lead to the locker room behind the hot three-point shooting of guard Jeff Horner, who nailed four treys in the half. But Horner would not be the man of the hour for long, as he allowed MSU to climb back into the game.
With Iowa's lead at nine, 46-37, early in the second half, Izzo decided to employ a full-court press to put pressure on the Hawkeyes.
The solution worked, as MSU went on a 9-0 run, with Iowa committing five straight turnovers, including four straight from Horner in a 46-second span.
"We played with the energy that we should've played with the whole game," MSU senior guard Kelvin Torbert said.
MSU would hold on to a small lead until there was about two minutes left, when Iowa forward Greg Brunner gave the Hawkeyes a 65-63 lead with 1:40 to play.
The Spartans found themselves down by as many five, but Torbert hit a 3-pointer in the corner with 40.4 seconds left and was fouled on the play - but he missed the free throw.
Iowa forward Doug Thomas was fouled after grabbing the rebound and hit both of his free throws to put Iowa ahead by four.
"We beat them by five points at the free-throw line," Alford said. "If you had told me that was going to be the case with 10 minutes left in the game, I would have told you that you were crazy."
After sophomore guard Shannon Brown hit three of his 14 points with 29.5 seconds left, MSU had a chance to capitalize when Iowa guard Mike Henderson, who scored a career-high 17 points in the game, committed the Hawkeyes' 19th turnover of the game.
This led to Anderson, the Big Ten's leader in free-throw percentage, being fouled and missing both shots from the line and effectively sealing the deal for Iowa.
"Before I got to the line I said, 'Man, these are good,'" Anderson said. "But I didn't make them."
