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MSU Gets Career Nights From Goins, McQuaid In Win Over Nebraska

Tom Izzo
Al Martin / WKAR-MSU

Career nights for Goins, McQuaid and Henry key Spartan win over Nebraska - a matchup with Michigan on Sunday now for a share of Big Ten title.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State needed help from a lot of people to work its way back into the Big Ten championship race. On Tuesday, they got help from friends both inside the Breslin Center and about 634 miles away in Minneapolis. MSU’s 91-76 win over Nebraska coupled with a 73-69 win for Minnesota over league-leading Purdue makes for an interesting contest on Saturday night.

With Cassius Winston dealing with knee tendonitis, it took career-best performances from Kenny Goins, Matt McQuaid, and Aaron Henry to pace MSU as they scored their most points in a game in the calendar year. Goins had 21 first-half points on the way to a team-high 24, while McQuaid added 22. Henry’s 15 points came as a welcome surprise after a tentative performance at Indiana on Saturday.

 

“I was disappointed in the first half of the turnovers, and we cleaned those up,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “We had some lineups in there that were strange...we made it to the last game and now you play dead.”

 

The two teams traded baskets early before MSU started to heat up from the outside. A pair of McQuaid shots plus a Henry 3-pointer and a Goins 3-pointer keyed a 13-0 Spartan run in a little over two minutes. From there, Goins stayed hot, making five first-half 3-pointers to lead all scorers at the break.

 

“It’s all about getting guys in their comfort zone,” Goins said. “There’s always that learning curve.”

 

The Spartans held a 47-29 lead at halftime mainly due to that outside shooting. Goins looked in rhythm early despite Izzo’s preference to work the ball inside to Xavier Tillman early. Instead, Goins and McQuaid were free to run off screens and get open looks. The Spartans responded in kind, making 69 percent of their outside shots in the first half.

 

The Cornhuskers have dropped off since the loss of top forward Isaac Copeland at the end of January, and are now 2-8 without him in the lineup. To their credit, Tim Miles’ team hung in early in the second half and cut the lead down to seven with 11:37 left. From there, a pair of Henry free throws and a McQuaid 3 pushed the lead back out to 14, and MSU cruised from there.

 

“I just had to do what I could,” Winston said. “When I had to make a play, I was going to make a play, but I was getting guys involved, getting guys shots.”

 

This was a game that featured quite a few unorthodox lineups from Izzo and assistant coach Dwayne Stephens. Foster Loyer received 11 minutes, his most since Minnesota on Feb. 9, and birthday boy Gabe Brown played 21 - his most since the away trip to Lincoln in the middle of January. Loyer took just one shot, but Brown’s defense drew the most praise of any of the players that received the most time.

 

Tillman struggled with Nebraska’s length inside, but still picked up 11 points for the second consecutive game. Winston finished with 8 points and 10 assists.

 

“The [freshmen] did a good job being ready,” Winston said. “The coaches did a good job of sticking to the gameplan...they did a good job finishing that game off.”

 

Senior guard James Palmer led the Cornhuskers with 30 points and Glynn Watson added 25.

 

With Purdue’s loss later in the night at Minnesota, the scenario for Saturday is somewhat straightforward. The winner of Michigan State-Michigan at the Breslin Center can clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title and a possible No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Purdue has a trip to Northwestern scheduled for Saturday afternoon, and that game will be over by the time the Spartans and Wolverines tip at 8 p.m. If Purdue falls at Northwestern, the Michigan State-Michigan winner can win the Big Ten regular-season title outright. Let the madness of March begin.

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