Xavier Tillman Ready To Lead Michigan State Into The Big Ten Tournament
The No. 13 Michigan State Spartans came into the Breslin Center in hot pursuit of their third straight Big Ten championship on Sunday. They took out the No. 19 Ohio State Buckeyes 80-69. The win improved the men in green’s season record and conference record to 22-9 (14-6). It was the second time that legendary coach Tom Izzo has guided the Spartans to a three-peat in the Big Ten.
The team will return to the hard-court Friday, March 13, 2020, in Indianapolis. While who they will play is not yet known, they will be playing on BTN and the game will tip-off at 6:30 PM.
With the regular season over, the Spartans have announced their end-of-year awards. Mex Carey the MSU basketball super SID has this recap:
Men’s Basketball Announces Award Winners at Team Banquet
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s men’s basketball team announced its individual team award winners at the annual banquet in the Breslin Center Monday night.
Michigan State finished the regular season with a 22-9 overall record, including a 14-6 mark in the Big Ten, tied for first place. The Spartans, who earned the No. 2 seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament, won a share of the Big Ten Regular Season for the third-straight year. The Spartans play the winner of No. 7 Ohio State and No. 10 Purdue on Friday, March 13 (6:30 p.m. ET) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) was named the recipient of the Gus Ganakas MVP Award as voted on by the team, while Winston and junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) were the co-recipients of the Charles S. Phillips Most Valuable Player Award, as voted on by the media.
Winston leads Michigan State, and ranks third in the Big Ten, in scoring with 18.6 points per game and is fourth in the league with 5.9 assists. He also leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage (43.2%), is second in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (86.5%), eighth in field goal percentage (44.8%) and is tied for seventh in the league in steals (1.2)
Tillman is second on the team in scoring (13.7 ppg), leads the team in rebounds (10.3, third in the Big Ten) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg) and is third on the team in assists (3.0 apg). He is the only Division I player averaging at least 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocked shots and is the only Division I player since 1992-93 to do so (Tim Duncan at Wake Forest in 1996-97 and Bo Outlaw in 1992-93 at Houston).
Tillman was the recipient of four additional awards, including the Jumping Johnny Green Chairman of the Boards Award. He leads the team, and ranks third in the Big Ten with 10.3 rebounds per game.
A junior captain, Tillman was also the recipient of the Scholar-Athlete Award, the Best Defensive Player Award and the Antonio Smith Glue and Guts Award. Tillman, who was named a Second Team Academic All-American on Monday and carries a 3.63 grade-point average, was also selected as the Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Redshirt senior guard/forward Kyle Ahrens (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) was the recipients of the Unsung Player Award. Ahrens, who was the co-recipient of this award last season, has been a determined member of the MSU team this season after battling injuries throughout his career. He has appeared in 27 games, averaging 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds while playing 13.2 minutes.
Sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) was the recipient of the team’s Most Improved Player Award. Brown has appeared in 31 games this season with 16 starts, averaging 6.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Ahrens and Winston were presented the Stephen G. Scofes Most Inspirational Player Award.
Redshirt sophomore Jack Hoiberg (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale Central) was the recipient of the Tim Bograkos Walk-On Award for the third-straight year
2020 Michigan State Men’s Basketball Banquet Award Winners:
Most Valuable Player Award (Team Vote): Cassius Winston
Most Valuable Player Award (Media Vote): Xavier Tillman & Cassius Winston
Scholar-Athlete Award: Xavier Tillman
Unsung Player Award: Kyle Ahrens
Tim Bograkos Walk-On Award: Jack Hoiberg
Most Improved Player Award: Gabe Brown
John E. Benington Best Defensive Player Award: Xavier Tillman
Stephen G. Scofes Inspirational Player Award: Kyle Ahrens & Cassius Winston
Jumping Johnny Green Chairman of the Boards Award: Xavier Tillman
Antonio Smith Glue and Guts Award: Xavier Tillman
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