Michigan State-Minnesota basketball: Turning point, unsung hero from NCAA Tournament game
Phil Friend
TURNING POINT
After falling behind by 20 points in the first half, Minnesota was starting to find its groove in the second half and cut the Michigan State lead to 40-31 with 14:42 left. But Cassius Winston is the Big Ten Player of the Year for a reason, and he simply took over. First, the junior point guard hit a jumper with the shot clock winding down. Winston followed that with another jumper and then, with 12:37 left, delivered a dagger of a 3-pointer for a 47-31 Spartan lead. MSU went on to win, 70-50.
UNSUNG HERO
MSU freshman Aaron Henry was in the news the past two days after drawing the ire of Tom Izzo during the first half of Thursday's win over Bradley. But the Indianapolis native brushed it all off before Saturday night's game, and was business as usual during the contest, scoring the Spartans' first bucket on a dunk. Henry also drew the defensive assignment on Minnesota guard Amir Coffey. Coffey got his points, finishing with 27, but only made 8 of 24 field goals (1 of 7 from 3-point land) and padded the stat with 10 free throws. Henry just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
KEY STAT
Minnesota was absolutely on fire from 3-point land in its first-round victory over Louisville, canning 11 of 27 attempts, well above its season average. But the Golden Gophers couldn't buy a triple Saturday night, only making 2 of 16 first-half attempts and missing all six second-half tries to finish 2 of 22 on the evening.
WHAT'S NEXT
Michigan State (30-6) will take on LSU (28-6) in the East regional semifinals on either Thursday or Friday. The two teams have played only one other time, an 87-71 MSU win in the second round of the 1979 NCAA Tournament. MSU, of course, would go on to win the national title that season.
Contact digital sports reporter Phil Friend at 517-377-1220 or pfriend@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Phil_Friend.
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