Saturday, January 2
Lincoln, Neb.
8:00 p.m.
Michigan State University
7-3,1-3Big Ten
84
at
77
Nebraska
4-7,0-4Big Ten
1
2
F
Michigan St.
40
44
84
Nebraska
33
44
77
Photo by: Scott Bruhn
Henry’s Career Night Leads No. 17 Michigan State Past Nebraska
1/2/2021 11:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Lincoln, Neb. – Junior forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) scored a career-high 27 points to lead three players in double figures as No. 17 Michigan State broke open a close game at the half and hung to beat Nebraska, 84-77, at Pinnacle Bank Arena Saturday night.
Henry hit 10-of-16 shots from the floor and 3-of-5 from 3-point land, while adding four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Graduate guard Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) scored 15 points and two assists, while junior forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) added 10 points off the bench.
Records
Michigan State improves to 7-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten, while Nebraska falls to 4-7 and 0-4 in league play.
Recap
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center for four of the next five games, starting with a matchup against Rutgers on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The game airs live on ESPN at 9 p.m., with Dave Flemming and Jay Bilas calling the action.
Henry hit 10-of-16 shots from the floor and 3-of-5 from 3-point land, while adding four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Graduate guard Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) scored 15 points and two assists, while junior forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) added 10 points off the bench.
Records
Michigan State improves to 7-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten, while Nebraska falls to 4-7 and 0-4 in league play.
Recap
- Leading by seven points, 40-33, at halftime, Michigan State scored the first seven points of the second half and took a 47-33 lead on a 3-pointer from Langford at the 18:27 mark, forcing Nebraska to call a timeout.
- MSU took its biggest lead, 17 points (52-35), on a 3-pointer from Henry with 17:34 to play.
- A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) gave MSU a 64-50 lead, but Nebraska used an 11-2 burst to cut the lead to five points, 66-61, after a triple from Teddy Allen with 7:32 left.
- Langford, who scored nine points in the second half, hit a key jumper to give MSU a 75-64 lead with 3;35 left and sophomore forward Thomas Kithier (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) put back a missed shot for a dunk with 1:40 left to make it 78-70.
- The Spartans hit 4-of-6 free throws in the final minute to close out the win.
- There were six ties and four lead changes in the opening 12 minutes and Nebraska had a 23-21 lead Henry, who scored 17 of his points in the opening half, hit a 3-pointer to key an 8-0 run as MSU took a 29-23 lead on another 3-pointer, this one from Brown.
- Nebraska pulled to within 29-28, but back-to-back jumpers from Henry gave MSU a 36-28 lead and the Spartans led by seven at the break.
- Michigan State connected on 51.8 percent of its field goals (29-of-56), including 54.2 percent in the first half (13-of-24).
- The Spartans connected on 73.1 percent of their free throws (19-of-26), including 11-of-14 in the first half (78.1 percent).
- MSU had nine offensive rebounds and scored 14 second-chance points.
- The MSU bench accounted for 26 points and 10 rebounds.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 19-9.
- This was the seventh-straight win in the series for MSU and the fourth in a row on the road.
- Head Coach Tom Izzo has a career record of 635-244, including a 303-135 record all-time against Big Ten opponents.
- This was the fifth time this season Michigan State has scored at least 80 points.
- The Spartans connected on 51.8 percent of their field goals, the fourth time this season hitting at least 50 percent.
- MSU's 26 points from the bench marked the ninth time this season the team has received at least 20 from its reserves.
- Aaron Henry scored a career-high 27 points and it was his ninth-straight game in double figures this season.
- It was his second career game with at least 20 points and it was the third time he led MSU in scoring this season.
- Joshua Langford scored 15 points, his third game in double figures this year and the 38th game of his career with at least 10 points.
- Gabe Brown scored 10 points, his fifth game in double figures this year and the 13th of his career.
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center for four of the next five games, starting with a matchup against Rutgers on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The game airs live on ESPN at 9 p.m., with Dave Flemming and Jay Bilas calling the action.
Team Stats
MSU
Nebr
FG%
.518
.491
3FG%
.304
.474
FT%
.731
.737
RB
29
31
TO
13
18
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Pts
27
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
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