If one hasn’t seen much of Michigan State the first half of the season, they might not know how Cassius Winston has taken his game to another level this year, resulting in him receiving midseason first team and second team All-American awards.
If one needed an example of how Winston has stepped up his game, they got it Thursday night in the Spartans’ game at Nebraska.
Winston scored a career-high 29 points-topping 1,000 points for his career in the process-and also added six assists, and the Spartans picked up one of the more impressive road wins of any team this season. Michigan State stopped the Cornhuskers’ 20-game home winning streak while also extending their Big Ten string of victories to 19.
In a game that was tight for more than 30 minutes, the Spartans took control in the late going. A 7-0 run included a three-pointer and a layup by Aaron Henry, and Winston delivered a dagger three-pointer with just over four minutes to play to push the lead to eight.
Winston has become one of the bigger individual stories of the season, a player continuing to improve in his career and is now the unquestioned leader of a Michigan State team that has somehow flown under the radar. Even as they are ranked solidly in the top 10, the Spartans are a very quiet 16-2 and 7-0 in the Big Ten.
MSU was playing again without injured Joshua Langford, the team’s No. 3 scorer, as well as without Kyle Ahrens off the bench. It also was on the road against a Nebraska team that already is tough at home and also was coming off the high of a win at Indiana three days earlier.
No matter. Led by their junior point guard, this was a gut-check win for the Spartans, one that solidifies Michigan and Michigan State as the top two teams in the Big Ten. It also should solidify just what a special season Winston is having, one that is very deserving of those preseason awards he picked up.
Side Dishes:
- The WCC is worth watching most every night of conference play this season. On a busy Thursday, Gonzaga took care of business at home with a 73-55 win over Loyola Marymount, with Zach Norvell’s 17 leading four in double figures and the Bulldogs’ defense limiting the Lions to 38.2% shooting. San Francisco also edged Pacific 53-52, doing so only after Charles Minlend Jr. made the winning free throw with 2.1 seconds left. Not pretty, but again: winning on the road means never having to say sorry.
- Also in the WCC, Saint Mary’s defeated ancient rival Santa Clara. It was also fantastic to again hear Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini on the call for this one, a long-running broadcast team of two guys that have been excellent together for well over 30 years.
- Hofstra’s win streak is up to 13 games now after it handled UNC Wilmington 87-72 in the CAA. Eli Pemberton scored 24 and the Pride pulled away after trailing by a point at halftime. What a run this team is on.
- Also in the CAA, Northeastern gained a small measure of revenge for a trio of losses to College of Charleston last year, including one in overtime in the CAA Tournament final. The Huskies’ 69-60 victory included a second half where the hosts from Boston made their first 11 shots to quickly pull out to a 16-point lead in a game that was tied at halftime. (Northeastern also shot 0-for-14 from three-point range in the first half, making its hot spell all the more jarring). The Cougars, meanwhile, are now just 3-3 in the CAA.
- In a less-than banner season for the Pac-12, maybe Oregon’s 59-54 win over Arizona says it all. Two teams normally known for playing exciting styles both struggled mightily, and while the Ducks picked up a nice road win, the Wildcats’ first league loss was an ugly one. Oregon State also lost for the first time in the conference loop, a furious late rally coming up just short in a 70-67 loss at Arizona State. Washington is now all alone atop the conference at 4-0 after handling Stanford 80-64.
- Texas-San Antonio had emerged as the early leader in Conference USA, recovering from a 0-5 start to the season as electric sophomore guard Jhivvan Jackson returned to health from a torn ACL. Middle Tennessee State, meanwhile, has struggled mightily after its roster was almost completely overturned following the departure of Kermit Davis. For at least one night, though, the Blue Raiders looked something like the league’s dominant team of the past couple years, upsetting the Roadrunners 89-86. Donovan Sims and James Hawthorne-two of the few returnees from last year’s team-scored 24 and 20 points, respectively, and Antonio Green also added 21.
- Now in sole possession of first in C-USA is Marshall, which outlasted Florida Atlantic 96-84. C.J. Burks (30) and Jon Elmore (29) combined for 59 points, out-dueling the Owls’ Michael Forrest, a freshman who erupted for 35 points. Also in C-USA, Old Dominion nipped Louisiana Tech 64-63 in a good one as Dajour Dickens dunked with 18 seconds left for the winning basket.
- Georgia State posted another win, and another victory that won’t impress the computers. The Panthers won 69-66 at South Alabama to move to 5-0 in the Sun Belt. Among the frustrating thing for us about efficiency statistics figuring into the NET is that a team like the Panthers gets punished basically because it ‘only’ wins, and doesn’t win by enough. Also in the Sun Belt, Texas State is up to 15-3 now after an 80-62 win over Arkansas-Little Rock. The Bobcats just might be the best-kept secret in the country.
- Murray State is now 5-0 in the Ohio Valley after an 83-61 road destruction of Eastern Illinois. Ja Morant had maybe one of his best games yet-27 points, nine assists, 11 of 16 from the field (4-for-5 from three-point land) and just three turnovers. Also, how about K.J. Williams with 14 points and 16 boards for Murray? This team has some real talent and is more than just Morant.
- You know who else is 5-0 in the OVC? Austin Peay, which won 79-71 at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville as Terry Taylor set a new career high with 33 points and added 12 boards.
- One of the great individual performances of the night came from Joshua Patton of Sacramento State. The 6-foot-8 junior scored a career-high 35 points on 13 of 17 shooting and topped it off with the winning hoop with :00.5 left in the Hornets’ 66-64 win at Northern Arizona.
- For the third straight night-and the second straight night in the city of Tulsa-a coach was ejected. This time it was South Dakota’s Todd Lee, who picked up two technicals late in the first half in the Coyotes’ eventual 77-74 loss at Oral Roberts. ORU received huge performances from a pair of 6-8 freshmen, as Kevin Obanor scored 31 and D.J. Weaver added 24.
- It’s been an eventful week in the Big 12, in some ways too eventful. TCU was the latest to make the news for not-so-desirable reasons with a double whammy Thursday morning. The first announcement was that junior Jaylen Fisher will not play the rest of the season, sitting out to recover from a knee injury. That was not stunning for anyone who knows of the injuries the talented guard has dealt with in his time with the Horned Frogs, but this was: he also plans to transfer from the school to complete his eligibility, per Stadium’s Jeff Goodman. Fisher is the fourth player to transfer out of the program this year, and while TCU seems to be getting by just fine so far, obviously its margin for error is slim in a Big 12 where the margin in games is usually slim to begin with.
- UMBC has had its challenges following up its historic NCAA Tournament shocker over Virginia, not surprising given the talent it lost in its backcourt. The Retrievers’ task the rest of the year is even tougher as starting forward Daniel Akin will now miss the rest of the season after tearing a meniscus in his right knee in practice this week. The 6-foot-9 sophomore averaged 7.4 points and 8.0 rebounds this season, leading the team in the latter category, but only played in seven games after also missing the team’s first 11 games with a similar injury while playing for his home country of England in the U-20 World Championships last summer. Maryland-Baltimore County is 10-9 overall and 2-2 early in its America East schedule.
- Finally, Hoopville’s Phil Kasiecki joined Ted Sarandis for their latest weekly Talking Hoops podcast, which you can listen to here.
Tonight’s Menu: It’s another very light night with just seven games on the schedule, but again with some quality and plenty of TV options.
- The night begins with Maryland on the road at Ohio State (6:30 p.m., FS1). On paper this is a tough matchup for the Buckeyes, who are slumping a bit having lost three straight, but playing at home will make a big difference. Bruno Fernando against Kaleb Wesson should be outstanding, but which team capitalizes when the big guys kick it out may decide this.
- A less appealing matchup in the Big Ten (sorry) is Northwestern at Rutgers (7 p.m., Big Ten Network), where the Scarlet Knights look to wipe away the stench of a 35-point loss to Purdue earlier in the week.
- Xavier is at Villanova (8:30 p.m., FS1), one of the best series in the country the last couple years, tamed some this year by both reloading to varying degrees. The Wildcats should win this because they simply have the better backcourt, but the Musketeers have shown some signs of feistiness of late and especially have been better taking care of the ball.
- Saint Joseph’s has had a very disappointing season and now has been beset with injury issues again, though the Hawks did knock off presumed Atlantic 10 contender Davidson last time out. The Hawks will face a physical test at Saint Louis (7 p.m., ESPN2), the only undefeated team left in the A-10.
- A pair of MAC offerings at the same time: Eastern Michigan is at Buffalo (7 p.m., ESPNU), a rematch of the teams’ Friday night duel in Ypsilanti two weeks earlier, where the Bulls were in control. EMU has played better since then, though. Also, Ohio is at Toledo (7 p.m., CBSSN), where the unpredictable Bobcats (who have some strong wins and awfully non-competitive losses alike) try to stay with the Rockets.
- The only game not on national television is Marist meeting Iona in the Metro Atlantic (7 p.m.), which means another matchup of coaches John Dunne and Tim Cluess. The teams had some recent dandies when Dunne was at St. Peter’s, and his defense-minded philosophy always is fun to watch against Cluess’s up-tempo Gaels.
Have a superb Friday and a great weekend.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
