Winston Leads Michigan State Past Ohio State, 80-69

East Lansing, Mich. – Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored 27 points to lead four players in double figures as Michigan State beat Ohio State, 80-69, to clinch a share of the Big Ten Conference regular season title on Sunday at the Breslin Center.

The win clinched a share of the Big Ten Regular Season Championship for Michigan State, the program's third-straight regular season title, the 10th under Head Coach Tom Izzo and MSU's 16th regular season championship.

Freshman guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds, while junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists and sophomore forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) finished with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Records
Michigan State, winners of five-straight games, improves to 22-9 overall and 14-6 in the Big Ten Conference, while Ohio State falls to 21-10 overall and 11-9 in league play.

Summary

Leading 53-49 midway through the second half, the Spartans used 21-9 run over a span of 5:55 and took a 16-point lead, 74-58, on a pair of free throws from Tillman with 4:27 left to play.
The Spartans took their biggest lead, 80-60, when Winston pulled up and hit a 3-pointer with 2:33 to play in the game.
Michigan State led by six points (38-32) at the break after leading by as many as 12 in the first half (31-19) before Ohio State tied the game at 42-all on a layup from Andre Wesson at 16:15.
Tied at 44-all, back-to-back baskets from Winston gave MSU a 49-44 lead before OSU's Duane Washington hit free throws to make it 49-46,
The Spartans went into the half with a 38-32 lead after a baseline jumper from Tillman at the buzzer.
MSU led from the start and took its biggest lead, 31-19, on a hook shot from Tillman with 6:21 to play.
The Buckeyes used a 9-1 run to pull within 32-28 on a pair of free throws from Kaleb Wesson with 3:27 left.

Key Stats

Michigan State put four players in double figures.
The Spartans held a 36-30 advantage in rebounds and had 11 offensive rebounds with 14 second-chance points.
Michigan State connected on 53.8 percent of its second half shots (14-of-26), including 62.5 percent of its two-point shots (10-of-16).
MSU out-scored Ohio State, 15-4, on the fast break.
The Spartans handed out 19 assists on 29 field goals (65.5 percent).

Notes

Michigan State shares the Big Ten Regular Season title with Wisconsin and Maryland.
This is the program's third-straight regular season title, the 10th under Head Coach Tom Izzo and MSU's 16th regular season championship.
This was MSU's fourth-straight win in the series against Ohio State.
The Spartans lead the all-time series, 77-59, including a 47-17 mark at the Breslin Center.
This was the 30th time this season MSU has held its opponent below 50.0 percent shooting from the floor (21-9).
MSU is now 21-2 when scoring at least 70 points.
Cassius Winston scored 27 points, his 17th game this season with at least 20 points and the 40th of his career.
It was his 27th game scoring in double figures this year and the 100th of his career.
He now was 1,969 career points and needs 28 points to pass Kalin Lucas (2007-11) for fifth place.
He handed out six assists, increasing his MSU and Big Ten all-time lead in the category to 890.
Winston led the team in assists for the 24th time this season and 109th in his career.
Watts scored 19 points, his 11th game this season in double figures and fourth-straight.
Tillman scored 15 points, his 22nd game this season in double figures.
Tillman blocked two shots, increasing his MSU all-time lead to 153 in that category.
His 65 blocks this season are tied for the third-most in a single-season at MSU.
Tillman blocked 65 shots last year and holds the sophomore and junior records for most blocks in a season.
Henry added 12 points, his 16th game this season in double figures and 20th of his career

Up Next
Michigan State plays next in the Big Ten Tournament March 11-15 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianpolis, Indiana.

Team Stats

Cassius Winston

Rocket Watts

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Aaron Henry

Players Mentioned

Aaron Henry

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston

Players Mentioned

Aaron Henry

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston