Shannon Brown had 18 points, while Maurice Ager added 16 for the Spartans (18-4, 9-2 Big Ten), who have won 15 of their last 17 games. The 18-4 mark ties the third-best record after 22 games in Spartan basketball history.
Minnesota's Vincent Grier scored 19 points for Minnesota. Grier had scored 85 points (28.3 avg) in the Gophers’ previous three games. Dan Coleman scored 12 points and Jeff Hagen had 11 for the Gophers, who fell into sixth place in the Big Ten. Minnesota (16-9, 6-6) has lost three straight, and are now in serious jeopardy of falling out of NCAA tourney contention.
Paul Davis had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Spartans, and Alan Anderson added 10 points 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in another solid performance.
Davis surpassed the 1,000-point mark in the first half, marking the first time the Spartans have had four players on the same team reach the milestone. Chris Hill, Kelvin Torbert and Anderson have also surpassed the 1,000-point plateau this season.
The Golden Gophers kept things relatively close in the first half, until a 25-7 halftime-spanning run by the Spartans turned the game into a rout.
Michigan State continued to excel offensively with four players posting double digits. The Spartans are 13-3 in games when four or more Spartans reach double figures. Wednesday’s four leading scorers - Shannon Brown (18), Maurice Ager (16), Paul Davis (14) and Alan Anderson (10) - accounted for 58 of MSU's 81 points.
The Spartans hit 63 percent of its first-half shots; they are 13-0 when they shoot 50 percent or better from the field. Against the Gophers, Michigan State went 32-of-56 from the field (.571).
Next up for Michigan State is a Saturday afternoon tip-off (12:00 p.m.) in West Lafayette, IN versus the Purdue Boilermakers. It will be “Gene Keady Day” in Purdue-land so the home crowd should be fired up their final tribute to the ole’ ball coach. Jud Heathcote is expected to be in attendance to fire some one-liners at the expense of his former rival.