Five in Double Figures as Michigan State Beats Nebraska, 86-65

Lincoln, Neb. – Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored 23 points and had six assists and sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) had a career-high 17 points to lead five players in double figures as Michigan State beat Nebraska, 86-65, at Pinnacle Bank Arena Thursday night.

Junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while redshirt senior Kyle Ahrens (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) scored 14 points and had seven rebounds and sophomore forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) added 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Records
Michigan State improves to 18-9 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten Conference, while Nebraska falls to 7-19 overall and 2-13 in league play.

Summary

The Spartans led by only three points, 39-36, at halftime and were still only ahead by two points six minutes into the second half before widening the gap to 10 points, 57-47, on a jumper from Henry with 12:36 to play.
A 3-pointer from Nebraska's Kevin Cross cut the lead to 59-50, but MSU pushed the lead up to 13 points, 67-54, after back-to-back three's from Brown and Ahrens, the latter forcing Nebraska to call a timeout.
That was part of a 19-8 run as the Spartans took a 20-point lead, 78-58, on a layup from Tillman with 3:25 on the clock.
MSU's biggest lead was 24 points, first on a layup from Winston (84-60) and then on a jumper from redshirt sophomore Jack Hoiberg (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale Central), who made his first career start playing against the team coached by his father, Fred.
Michigan State went into the break with a 39-36 lead, thanks to nine 3-pointers, including four from Brown.
Nebraska took an early 15-6 lead on a layup from Dachon Burke, but the Spartans used a 14-2 run to take a 23-17 lead on a layup from freshman guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) with 9:37 to play in the half.
A 3-pointer from Brown gave MSU a 28-21 lead and the Spartans led 30-23 after a layup from Tillman with 5:07 to play in the half.
Nebraska's Burke hit a 3-pointer to cap a 13-6 run and tie the game at 36-all before Henry hit a trey with 45 seconds left to give MSU the lead.

Key Stats

The Spartans finished the game shooting 51.6 percent from the floor (32-of-62), including a blistering 60.7 percent in the second half (17-of-28).
After hitting nine 3-pointers in the first half (50.0 percent, 9-of-18), the Spartans connected on 68.4 percent of their two-point shots in the second half (13-of-19).
Michigan State connected 48.1 percent of its 3-point attempts (13-of-27).
The Spartans committed 22 turnovers with Nebraska scoring 16 points off of those.
MSU had a 51-26 advantage on the boards and collected 16 offensive rebounds.

Notes

Michigan State has won the last six meetings with Nebraska, including the last three on the road.
The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 18-9, including a 7-6 edge on the road.
Head Coach Tom Izzo is 10-3 all-time against Nebraska.
Michigan State is 18-0 when leading at the half.
The Spartans are 6-0 when shooting at least 50.0 percent from the floor.
This was the 26th time this season MSU has held its opponent below 50.0 percent shooting from the floor (17-9).
The Spartans are 15-3 when out-rebounding their opponent.
The 13 3-point field goals hit by MSU are the second most this season.
MSU scored at least 80 points for the seventh time this season (7-0).
This was the fourth time this season the Spartans grabbed at least 50 rebounds.
This was the 12th time this season MSU has handed out at least 20 assists.
It was the first team the team had hit at least 60.0 percent of its field goals in a half since connecting on 66.7 percent in the second half of the win over Charleston Southern on Nov. 18.
Winston scored a game-high 23 points, his 23rd game in double figures this season and the 96th of his career.
He has scored at least 20 points 14 times this season and 37 times in his career.
He now has 1,888 career points and needs 27 points to pass Jay Vincent (1977-81) for sixth place on the all-time SU scoring list.
Winston handed out six assists, increasing his MSU and Big Ten all-time lead in that category to 862.
Tillman scored 10 points and had 11 rebounds for his fourth-straight double-double.
He has 12 double-doubles this season and 17 in his career.
He has scored in double figures 19 times this season and 39 in his career.
This was his 18th game this season with at least 10 rebounds and his sixth-straight.
Brown scored a career-high 17 points and hit a career-best five 3-pointers.
This was his eighth game this season with at least 10 points and the ninth of his career.
Ahrens scored in double figures for the second time this season and the fifth of his career.
He grabbed a season-high, and tied a career-high, with seven rebounds.
Henry scored in double figures for the 13th time this season and the 17th time in his career.
He tied a season-high with nine rebounds.

Up Next
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Tuesday, Feb. 25, hosting Iowa. Tipoff on ESPN2 is slated for 7 p.m., with Dave Flemming, Dan Dakich and Molly McGrath calling all of the action.

Five in Double Figures as Michigan State Beats Nebraska, 86-65

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Team Stats

Cassius Winston

Gabe Brown

Kyle Ahrens

Aaron Henry

Players Mentioned

Kyle Ahrens

Gabe Brown

Aaron Henry

Jack Hoiberg

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston

Players Mentioned

Kyle Ahrens

Gabe Brown

Aaron Henry

Jack Hoiberg

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston

Five in Double Figures as Michigan State Beats Nebraska, 86-65

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Cassius Winston

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Kyle Ahrens

Aaron Henry

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Kyle Ahrens

Gabe Brown

Aaron Henry

Jack Hoiberg

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston

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