Michigan State University
8-3,2-0Big Ten
Northwestern
5-5,0-2Big Ten
Winston Leads No. 15 Michigan State Past Northwestern, 77-72
12/18/2019 10:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, ILL. – Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored 21 points to lead three players in double figures as No. 15 Michigan State held on to beat Northwestern, 77-72, at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night.
Junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) and sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) each finished with double-doubles. Tillman had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Brown added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his career.
Records
Michigan State won its third-straight game and the fifth in the last six, improving to 8-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten Conference, while Northwestern falls to 5-5 overall and 0-2 in league play.
Summary
- Michigan State led 37-27 at halftime and extended its lead to 47-31 early in the second half and still led by 10 points, 69-59, with 2:40 left before Northwestern used an 8-2 run and pulled to within four points, 71-67, after a layup from Pete Nance with 44 seconds left.
- Sophomore guard Foster Loyer (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) hit four free throws and Tillman added two more in the final 33 seconds as the Spartans hung on for the win.
- MSU opened the second half with a 10-4 run over the first 5:04 to take its biggest lead of the game, 47-31, on a three-point play from Winston.
- Northwestern, however, responded with a 10-0 run and pulled to within 47-41 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Boo Buie and a breakaway dunk from A.J. Turner at the 13:22 mark, forcing MSU to call a timeout.
- The Spartans responded with a 9-5 run and took a 56-46 lead on a 3-pointer in the corner from sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) and held that lead until the final minutes.
- The Spartans went into the break leading by 10 points, 37-27, with Winston scoring 13 points.
- MSU jumped out to an 8-0 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from Winston and a dunk from sophomore forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central).
- Northwestern pulled to within 23-20 on a layup from Anthony Gaines with 7:55 to play, but MSU responded with six-straight burst to force NU to call a timeout.
- The Spartans extended the run to 9-0 and took their biggest lead of the half, 32-20, on a conventional three-point play from Winston with 5:41 to play.
Key Stats
- Michigan State connected on 42.9 percent of its 3-point attempts (9-of-21), including 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) in the second half.
- The Spartans held a 48-24 advantage on the boards and scored 36 points in the paint and had 15 second-chance points.
- MSU committed 16 turnovers and Northwestern scored 24 points of those.
- Nine different players scored at least one point for the Spartans
- Michigan State is the first Big Ten team to win a road game through the first two games of the conference slate. Road teams had gone 0-13 until the Spartans win on Wednesday night.
- The win over Northwestern was Michigan State's 11th-straight over the Wildcats.
- The Spartans have won the last five games at Northwestern.
- Cassius Winston scored 21 points, leading MSU in scoring for the seventh time this season.
- It was his sixth game this season with at least 20 points and the 29th game of his career.
- He has scored in double figures nine times this year and 79 times in his career.
- Winston handed out six assists, giving him 780 for his career and he trails Mateen Cleaves by 36 for the all-time lead at MSU.
- Xavier Tillman had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth of the season and the ninth of his career.
- Tillman has scored in double figures seven times this season and 27 times in his career.
- Gabe Brown scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
- Brown grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and scored in double figures for the third time this season while playing a career-high 36 minutes.
- Brown and Tillman each finishing with a double-double marked the first time this season two players had one in the same game and the first time since Nick Ward and Joshua Langford did so against Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 11, 2018.
- The Spartans shot 42.9 percent from 3-point land (9-of-21), the second-highest mark this season.
Up Next
Michigan State returns home for the first of five-straight games at the Breslin Center, hosting Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 21. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. The game will air live on BTN, with Chris Vosters and Stephen Bardo calling all of the action.
