Tom Izzo Looks Ahead To Sunday's Match-Up With Michigan
Breslin Center
East Lansing, MI
The #14 Michigan State Spartans are preparing to host the #12 Michigan Wolverines this weekend. Spartan Nation was at the Breslin Center to talk with Coach Izzo and players about the big rivalry game.
Here are five quick notes about the game per MSU SID Mex Carey:
1. Series History Michigan State and Michigan meet for the 185th time on Sunday, Jan. 5 ... Michigan leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 100-84 ... The Spartans are 50-38 all-time at home against the Wolverines, including a 19-8 record at the Breslin Center ... MSU beat Michigan three times in 2019 and have won 28 of the last 40 games overall and eight of its last 11 ... Tom Izzo is 29-17 in his career against the Wolverines.
2. Last Meeting with Michigan Top-seeded Michigan State mounted a furious comeback in the second half and junior guard Cassius Winston hit a go-ahead layup to give the Spartans the lead and redshirt senior Kenny Goins hit free throws to seal a 65-60 win in the Big Ten Championship game at the United Center on March 17 ... Michigan State claimed its league-best sixth Big Ten Tournament Championship ... Senior guard Matt McQuaid scored a career-high 27 points, connecting on a career-best seven 3-pointers to lead MSU, while Winston had 14 points (11 in the second half) and 11 assists ... Winston was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
3. About the Spartans Senior guard Cassius Winston leads MSU, and ranks third in the Big Ten, in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game … Winston is also fourth in the league in assists, averaging 6.1 per game, and first in free throw percentage, connecting on 87.0 percent of his shots (47-of-54) ... Junior forward Xavier Tillman is second on the team with 13.5 points per game (16th in the Big Ten) and tops the team, and is fourth in the Big Ten, with 9.7 rebounds per game, while adding 2.9 assists per game ... Sophomore forward Aaron Henry, who scored a season-high 18 points against Virginia Tech and matched a career-best with six assists against Eastern Michigan, is third on the team with 10.5 points per game, while adding 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists ... MSU has four other players averaging at least 5.0 points per game, led by sophomore forward Gabe Brown, who is averaging 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds and leads the team in free throw percentage, connecting on 96.0 percent of his shots (28-of-29) ... Freshman guard Rocket Watts adds 6.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists ...Sophomore forward Marcus Bingham Jr., who has started the last nine games and collected career high’s in rebounds (12) and blocks (5) against Illinois on Jan. 2, is averaging 5.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks ... Freshman forward Malik Hall, who had nine points and eight rebounds against Duke, is averaging 5.0 points and 3.2 rebounds.
4. Loyer Helps Lead No. 14 Michigan State Past Western Michigan, 95-62 Senior guard Cassius Winston scored a game-high 21 points and handed out six assists to lead four players in double figures as No. 14 Michigan State used a big second half to beat Illinois, 76-56, in a Big Ten Conference game on Thursday night at the Breslin Center ... Junior forward Xavier Tillman added 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, while sophomore forward Gabe Brown scored 12 points and sophomore forward Aaron Henry had 10 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Marcus Bingham Jr. did not score, but had career-high’s with 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
5. Winston Approaching All-Time Assist Record, Nearing Top-10 at MSU in Scoring Senior guard Cassius Winston entered the 2019-20 season with 714 career assists and needed 103 more to pass Mateen Cleaves for the most in school history ... He now has 793 and needs 24 to pass Cleaves, who finished his career in 2000 with 816 ... Winston set a school record and a Big Ten record by handing out 291 assists last year ... He is the nation’s leader among active players in assists ... MSU has the top-three single season assist leaders in Big Ten history (Winston with 291 in 2018-19, Cleaves with 274 in 1998-99 and Magic Johnson with 269 in 1978-79) ... Winston has scored 1,643 points and needs three more to pass Denzel Valentine (2012-16) for 11th place on the all-time scoring list at MSU.
The team will return to the hard-court Sunday, January 5, 2020, at the Breslin Center against arch-rival Michigan. That game can be seen on CBS at 1:30 PM.
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