GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

Cassius Winston may be Michigan State basketball's leader next season

Chris Solari
Lansing State Journal
Michigan State guard Cassius Winston drives against Syracuse guard Frank Howard during the first half in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Little Caesars Arena on March 18, 2018.

It was supposed to be Cassius Winston’s time to shine in his hometown.

It ended up being a bitter end to Michigan State’s chase for a national title, along with a disappointing conclusion to the Detroit native’s otherwise stellar sophomore season.

Winston’s last-gasp fling at the final buzzer smacked off the Little Caesars Arena backboard in Sunday’s 55-53 loss to Syracuse, putting an end to MSU’s season in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“I definitely feel like we disappointed a lot of people,” Winston said in the locker room. “We felt like this team had so much more, so much more ahead of us. Going into this tournament, I never even imagined coming home early. It hurts.”

It also capped a rough two weeks for Winston after the 6-foot point guard began to blossom as an outside scorer toward the end of the regular season.

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Winston went 5-for-27 from 3-point range in two NCAA tournament games and two Big Ten tournament games combined.

Sunday against Syracuse, the U-D Jesuit product shot 4-for-12 overall and 3-for-11 on 3-point attempts, finishing with 15 points, six assists and three turnovers.

“I feel bad for him,” freshman Jaren Jackson Jr. said Sunday of Winston. “This is his city.”

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Winston made 16-for-20 from 3-point range in the Spartans’ final four regular-season games, including all six of his attempts in the finale at Wisconsin.

Then the lid went on.

He was 1-for-7 in a win over the Badgers in New York and followed that with a 0-for-4 effort in a loss to Michigan. In Friday’s NCAA opener against Bucknell, Winston made 1-for-5 3-point attempts and had 11 points with 10 assists.

Those shooting woes carried over against the Orange’s 2-3 zone.

“They had that zone going, so they kind of force you into shooting 3s,” Winston said. “Our mindset was one of them was gonna drop. We were getting open looks, stepping into them and everything.

“If you give me that opportunity, I’m gonna take it every time.”

Mar 18, 2018; Detroit, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Cassius Winston (5) and forward Xavier Tillman (23) react to losing to Syracuse Orange  in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Most of the season, that was a recipe for success for MSU.

Winston led the Spartans and Big Ten at 49.7 percent from 3-point range (75-for-151), while also hitting 50.7 percent overall. He averaged 12.6 points and 28.1 minutes, ranking second to only Miles Bridges in both categories, while leading the Big Ten at 6.9 assists and improving to 3.4 rebounds per game. Winston’s 90-percent free-throw rate (81-for-90) also ranked second in the conference.

MSU coach Tom Izzo said Winston “got a lot better in the last month — a lot better.” He also believes his point guard can become the Spartans’ vocal leader next season, a challenge after they lose three-year captain Tum Tum Nairn.

Izzo saw it in the moments after Sunday’s loss.

“There’s a definitive thing about watching the locker room after a loss. … You kind of learn who took it so hard. And Cassius really impressed me. ... It really impressed me to watch him talk to the other guys. And the relationship with him and Tum was uncanny, unbelievable. I think Cassius is gonna be the guy ready to step up.”

Even without knowing who will be back and who might leave, including his longtime friend Miles Bridges and Jackson, Winston thinks he can do more as a junior next winter.

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“Right now, it’s individual," he said. "I gotta focus on the player that I’m gonna be. I gotta take that next step as a player, for this program and for myself.

But the ending this year will haunt him, he said. He felt like “a little kid in the backyard” taking his final shot. He thought it would go in.

It did not. And Winston was overcome by a feeling he said he had not experienced since his sophomore year of high school, when his team fell short of reaching the state semifinals.

U-D Jesuit would make Breslin Center the next year and won the Class A state title when Winston was a senior.

“When you know you had the opportunity and you came up short, it feels a lot worse,” Winston said. “There’s so much that we can add to our game, so much more that we can do. I felt like there was so much more that I could have done and that I was capable of.

“I’m just gonna get in the lab and get to it.”