Winston’s Career-High 29 Points Lead No. 6 Michigan State Past Nebraska, 70-64

Lincoln, Neb. – Junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored a career-high 29 points and No. 6 Michigan State hit nine free throws in the final minute to hang on for a 70-64 win over Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena Thursday night.

Junior forward Nick Ward (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) had his second-straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while redshirt senior Kenny Goins (Troy, Mich./Warren Mott) added seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Records
Michigan State, winners of 11-straight games and 16 of its last 17 overall, improves to 16-2 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten, while Nebraska falls to 13-5 overall and 3-4 in the league. The win was Michigan State's 19-straight conference win dating back to last season, setting a school record for consecutive conference wins, and extends its school-record streak of 10-straight conference road wins.

Summary

In a back-and-forth game featuring 11 ties and six lead changes, Nebraska erased a four-point deficit and tied the game at 44-all on a pair of free throws from James Palmer Jr. with 9:43 to play.
The Spartans responded with a 7-0 run – a 3-pointer from freshman forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis), a layup from Goins off a feed from Ward and a driving layup from Henry – to take the lead for good at 51-44 with 7:34 to play in the game.
A 3-pointer from Winston with 4:13 left gave MSU a 56-48 lead and a pair of free throws from Ward with 1:50 left pushed the lead to 12 points, 60-48, with 1:50 to play.
Nebraska chipped away and pulled to within seven points, 66-59, on a dunk from Nana Akenten and trailed by just four points (66-62) after a 3-point play from Palmer with 23 seconds left.
MSU hit 9-of-10 free throws in the final 1:04, including two apiece from senior guard Matt McQuaid (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville0 and Winston in the final 20 seconds to seal the win.
The Spartans had led by five points, 33-28, at the half, but Nebraska took a 36-35 lead on a pair of Thomas Allen free throws with 15:21 left after MSU went scoreless for three minutes.
The lead changed hands once again before a jumper from Isaac Copeland Jr. gave the Cornhuskers a 38-37 lead, but MSU used a 7-2 run to take a 44-40 lead on a driving layup from Winston with 11:53 to play.
Michigan State went into the break with 33-28 lead thanks in large part to the play of Winston, who scored 16 points in the first half.

Key Stats

Winston hit 9-of-15 shots from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line while adding six assists.
The Spartans connected on 88.9 percent of their free throws (16-of-18).
MSU limited Nebraska to 32.8 percent shooting from the floor (22-of-67), including 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from 3-point land.
The Spartans received eight points from the bench, with sophomore forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) scoring six points, grabbing six rebounds and handing out four assists, while freshman forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) chipped in three points, four rebounds and one block in 20 minutes.
The Spartans had a 42-38 advantage on the boards and collected 10 offensive rebounds.

Notes

Winston hit 9-of-15 shots from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line while adding six assists as he registered his eighth 20-plus point game of the season.
In the process moved past the 1,000-point mark for his career, becoming the second MSU player to do so this year, joining Ward, and the 51st player in program history to pass that mark. Winston has 1,006 points in 88 career games, an 11.4 per game average.
Winston scored in double figures for the 17th time this season and the 50th of his career.
Winston led Michigan State in scoring for the eighth time this season and handed out at least six assists for the 14th time this season.
Michigan State has held 13 opponents to 70 or fewer points this season.
Ward recorded his second-straight double-double, his third of the season and the 14th of his career.
He scored in double figures for the 15th time this season and the 60th time of his career.
Goins collected 11 rebounds, the ninth time this season he has collected at least 10, and the 12th time he has led the team in reboujnding.
No opponent has shot above 50 percent against the Spartans this year and it was the 14th time this season MSU held its opponent below 40 percent.
Michigan State out-rebounded its opponent for the 17th time this season (16-1).

Up Next
Michigan State returns home on Monday, Jan. 21, hosting Maryland at the Breslin Center. The game will air live on FS1 at 6:30 p.m., with Joe Davis and Steve Lavin calling all of the action.

Winston’s Career-High 29 Points Lead No. 6 Michigan State Past Nebraska, 70-64

Next Event

Team Stats

Cassius Winston

Nick Ward

Aaron Henry

Kenny Goins

Players Mentioned

Gabe Brown

Kenny Goins

Aaron Henry

Matt McQuaid

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Nick Ward

Cassius Winston

Winston’s Career-High 29 Points Lead No. 6 Michigan State Past Nebraska, 70-64

Related News

Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Cassius Winston

Nick Ward

Aaron Henry

Kenny Goins

Players Mentioned

Gabe Brown

Kenny Goins

Aaron Henry

Matt McQuaid

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Nick Ward

Cassius Winston

Related News

Related Videos