Cassius Winston Named Big Ten Player of the Week for Fifth Time
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State men's basketball player Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday.
This is the fifth time this year that Winston has been named Big Ten Player of the Week, breaking the previous school record of four, shared by Draymond Green (2011-12) and Denzel Valentine (2012-16). Winston was named player of the week on Nov. 26, Dec. 31, Jan. 21 and Jan. 28.
Winston averaged 27.5 points, 8.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor in a pair of wins for the Spartans, who stand alone in first place in the Big Ten.
In Michigan State's 77-70 victory at then-No. 7 Michigan, he scored a game-high 27 points and handed out eight assists, while converting 7-of-13 from the floor and 13-of-14 from the foul line. Earlier in the week, he had a game-high 28 points, along with eight assists and five rebounds in a 71-60 win over Rutgers.
Winston leads MSU, and ranks third in the Big Ten, with 19.2 points per game, and leads the league with 7.4 assists. He has scored at least 20 points 15 times this season, including 12 of the last 17 games.
He is the only player in the country averaging at least 19.0 points per game, 7.0 assists per game and connecting on at least 40.0 percent of his 3-point attempts.
The junior guard was one of 30 players included on the midseason team for the 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Award by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, was selected to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, was named one of 10 candidates for the 2019 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award and was one of 12 players selected to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Final Midseason Watch List by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Winston joins Ohio State's Evan Turner (seven in 2009-10), Purdue's Caleb Swanigan (six in 2016-17) and Purdue's Glenn Robinson (five in 1993-94) as the only individuals to earn five or more Player of the Week honors in a single season.
Michigan State, 22-5 overall, 14-3 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 6 n the Associated Press Top 25, plays at Indiana on Saturday, March 2 (noon).
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