Michigan State University
15-5,7-2Big Ten
Minnesota
11-9,5-5Big Ten
Winston, Tillman Help Lead Michigan State to 70-52 Road Win at Minnesota
1/26/2020 5:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS – Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored 18 points and had eight assists and junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central) had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds as No. 11 Michigan State used a run midway through the second half to pull away from Minnesota en route to a 70-52 win in a Big Ten men's basketball game at Williams Arena Sunday afternoon.
Freshman guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) scored 10 points, while sophomore forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) added nine points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists, freshman forward Malik Hall (Aurora, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]) and sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) had seven points and six rebounds apiece.
Records
Michigan State improves to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in the Big Ten Conference, while Minnesota falls to 11-9 overall and 5-5 in league play.
Summary
- The Spartans led by eight points (30-22) at the half and Minnesota pulled to within six points, 39-33, at the 17:04 mark after a three-point play from Daniel Oturu.
- A jumper from Brown at the 16:52 mark triggered a 14-5 run over 5:42 as the Spartans pushed the lead to 15 points, 53-38, on a layup from sophomore forward Thomas Kithier (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) with 11:10 to play in the game.
- Minnesota would cut the lead to nine points, 54-45, but layups from Tillman sandwiched around a 3-pointer from Winston gave MSU a 61-45 lead with 5:35 to play.
- The Spartans took their biggest lead, 66-48, on free throws from Tillman with 4:33 left and matched that with a layup from Watts with 1:51 remaining.
- MSU went into the half with a 30-22 lead, connecting on 48.0 percent of its field goals (12-of-25) and getting balanced scoring, with Tillman scoring eight points, Winston and Hall each adding seven and Henry scoring six points.
- Both teams were slow coming out and Minnesota pulled to within 10-9 on a jumper from Alihan Demir at the 10:47 mark.
- A basket from Hall 30 seconds later started a run that would extend to 19-9 at the 7:34 mark after a 3-pointer from Winston, forcing Minnesota to call a timeout.
- The Spartans closed out a 12-0 run over 3:30 on a convention three-point play from Hall at the 5:53 mark.
- Minnesota went 5:23 without a field goal, but Oturu hit a layup with 5:25 left and the Golden Gophers out-scored MSU, 13-8, to pull within eight at the break.
- After hitting only one 3-pointer in the first half, Michigan State connected on 6-of-10 in the second half (60.0 percent).
- The Spartans out-scored Minnesota in the paint, 34-20.
- Michigan State limited Minnesota to just 28.1 percent shooting from the floor (16-of-57), including 17.9 percent (5-of-28) from 3-point land.
- After committing eight turnovers in the first half and Minnesota scoring 10 points off those, MSU committed only three in the second half and the Golden Gophers did not score any points off turnovers.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Minnesota, 73-60, and is now 27-37 in games played in Minneapolis.
- The Spartans have won the last five games in the series and the last four games on the road.
- Tom Izzo is 35-11 all-time against the Golden Gophers.
- Michigan State is now 14-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
- This was the eight time this season MSU has held an opponent below 60 points (8-0).
- MSU held Minnesota to 28.1 percent shooting from the floor, the fifth time this season they have held an opponent below 30 percent and the third lowest for an opponent this year.
- It was the 19th time this season an opponent shot below 50 percent from the floor.
- Michigan State is now 14-0 when leading at the half.
- The Spartans out-rebounded their opponent for the 14th time this season (13-1).
- Cassius Winston scored 18 points to lead the Spartans, his 14th time this season leading the team in scoring and the 45th in his career.
- He has reached double figures in scoring 16 times this season and 86 times in his career.
- He now has 1,753 career points and needs 25 points to pass Terry Furlow for eighth all-time in scoring at Michigan State.
- With eight assists, Winston extended his all-time Michigan State, and Big Ten, career record to 830.
- Xavier Tillman had his eighth double-double of the season (13th career) with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
- It was his 14th game scoring in double figures and the 34th in his career.
- He has collected at least 10 rebounds 12 times this season and 21 times in his career.
- Tillman also added five assists, the seventh time this season he has handed out at least four and the fifth time in the last seven games.
- Rocket Watts scored 10 points, his fifth game in double figures this season and the third time in the last four games.
Up Next
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Wednesday, Jan. 29, hosting Northwestern. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. The game will air live on BTN.
