NCAA Game Summary - Wisconsin at Michigan State

02.24.2005

East Lansing, MI (Basketball News) - Alan Anderson was a perfect 10-of-10 from the field and poured in a career-high 28 points to lead No. 10 Michigan State to a 77-64 win over 20th-ranked Wisconsin at the Breslin Center.

Paul Davis chipped in 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans (20-4, 11-2 Big Ten), who have won six straight games since dropping a heartbreaking 62-59 loss at Wisconsin on January 16. Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager both contributed 11 points in the win.

Michigan State, which won for the first time in its last seven meetings versus the Badgers, won 20 games in a season for the sixth time under head coach Tom Izzo.

"I couldn’t be prouder of these guys, to be honest with you," said Izzo. "It hasn’t been easy on these guys and we beat a very good team, and we beat them soundly. I thought we did a lot of things well. Our staff just came with the conclusion that this (Wisconsin) team pulls you in, but almost beats you from the three."

Alando Tucker scored 18 points and Mike Wilkinson added 16 points and seven boards for Wisconsin (17-7, 8-5), which has dropped two of its last three contests.

The Spartans led by eight at the intermission, but began the second half on an 8-2 run to pull ahead 41-27. The Badgers hung tough, though, as Wilkinson’s three-point play with 12:48 left trimmed the deficit to 50-40.

However, Michigan State scored four quick points to widen the margin to 14 points. Ager’s three-pointer with just under seven minutes left then made it 64-49 and gave the Spartans a seemingly comfortable 15-point lead.

Wisconsin did close within 70-61 on Zach Morley’s layup with 1:10 left and then cut the deficit to eight points on Kammron Taylor’s three-pointer.

Michigan State, though, scored the final five points to post a 13-point win.

"(Alan Anderson) did a great job at penetrating and taking care of business around the basket," said Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan. "I mean, you name it, he did it. We were impressed, but unfortunately, that’s not what we needed to see. We thought we did a good job on some of their other guys, but we definitely didn’t take care of him (Alan Anderson)."

The Spartans jumped out to a quick lead as Anderson’s jumper with 13:49 left in the first half staked the club to a 15-4 advantage. The lead continued to grow and Drew Neitzel’s three-pointer near the midpoint of the stanza widened the gap to 14 points.

The Badgers got within eight points moments later, but Anderson’s two free throws with 1:31 remaining in the half gave Michigan State a 33-21 lead.

Wisconsin scored the final four points of the half and went into the locker room trailing 33-25.

The Spartans made 28-of-50 shots from the field (56 percent), while Wisconsin hit on 42 percent of its attempts (23-of-55)...During Michigan State’s winning streak, the team has won all six games by double-digits...The Spartans led 59-51 late in the game played at the Kohl Center, but Wisconsin scored the final 11 points to post the comeback win. However, MSU has won 10 of 11 since the tough defeat...The Spartans lead the all-time series 64-53 and hold a commanding 39-14 edge in East Lansing.

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