Friday, November 23
Las Vegas, Nev.
6:30 PM ET
Michigan State University
5-1
78
vs
68
Texas
5-1
1
2
F
Michigan St.
36
42
78
Univ. of Texas
44
24
68
Langford, Winston Lead No. 11 Michigan State Past Texas, 78-68
11/23/2018 9:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Spartans Win Las Vegas Invitational, Winston Named MVP
LAS VEGAS – Junior guard Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) scored a career-high 29 points while fellow junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored 20 points and handed out 10 assists as No. 11 Michigan State roared back from a 19-point first half deficit en route to a 78-68 win over Texas in the championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational.
Records
Michigan State, ranked No. 11 in the country in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls, wins its fifth-straight game and improves to 5-1 overall, while Texas falls to 5-1.
Summary
- The Spartans trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half and were down 44-36 at the break before a 3-pointer from Matt Coleman of Texas extended the Longhorns' lead to 47-36.
- Michigan State responded with a pair of 3-pointers from Langford and one from Winston, forcing Texas to call a timeout as the lead was cut to 47-45.
- That was part of a 22-5 run over a span of 6:23 as the Spartans took a 58-52 lead on a 3-pointer by Winston with 12:58 left to play.
- Texas would trim the lead to four points, 60-56, on free throws from Jericho Sims, but an 8-1 burst was capped by a dunk from redshirt senior Kenny Goins (Troy, Mich./Warren Mott), giving MSU a 68-57 lead with 5:58 to play.
- A 3-pointer from senior guard Matt McQuaid (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville) pushed the lead to 71-59 and Winston and Langford each hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
- Texas quickly jumped on top in the first half, taking a 9-2 lead after a 3-pointer from Dylan Osetkowski at the 16:16 mark, forcing MSU to call a timeout.
- Michigan State committed 10 turnovers in the opening eight minutes of the game and fell behind by 19 points, 25-6, with 11:21 to play after a 3-pointer from Courtney Ramey.
- The Longhorns still led by 18 points, 34-16, with 5:52 to play, but a 20-8 burst during the final stages of the opening half – with five points from Langford, as well as 3-pointers from freshman forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis), Goins and Winston – narrowed the gap to 42-36 before MSU went into the break down 44-36.
- Langford and Winston combined for 35 of Michigan State's 42 points in the second half.
- Michigan State finished the game shooting 51.0 percent from the floor (26-of-51), including 60.0 percent from 3-point land (12-of-20).
- The Spartans won despite committing a season-high 24 turnovers. MSU committed 10 in the first eight minutes of the game, but only one in the final 12 minutes of the first half as they fought back from a 19-point deficit.
- The Spartans held a 42-23 advantage on the boards, including grabbing 13 offensive rebounds.
- Michigan State received 14 points, 14 rebounds and five assists from its bench, with Henry scoring eight points and grabbing a career-high six rebounds.
- The win at the Las Vegas Invitational marked the second-straight year Michigan State has won a preseason tournament and the fourth time in the last six years. MSU won the 2013 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Brooklyn, the 2015 Wooden Legacy in California and the 2018 PK80 Victory Bracket Championship in Portland, Ore.
- Winston was named the Tournament MVP. This is the second-straight year he has been named the MVP of a preseason tournament, earning the honor last year at the PK80 Invitational. Winston averaged 19.5 points, 8.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor (13-of-26) and 50.0 percent from 3-point land (7-of-14).
- In addition to Winston, both Langford and Ward earned spots on the all-tournament team. Langford averaged 21.5 points and 3.5 rebounds and hit 57.7 percent of his shots (15-of-26), including 61.5 percent of his 3-pointers (8-of-13). Ward averaged 11.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots.
- Langford set a career-high with 29 points, besting his previous mark of 23, set twice last year (against North Carolina and Cleveland State). He hit a career-high 10 field goals and tied his career mark with five 3-pointers (North Carolina).
- Winston finished with 20 points, his second game this season with at least 20 and the fifth of his career.
- Winston also handed out 10 assists, his second game this season with at least 10 assists and the ninth of his career. This was his second double-double and the seventh of his career.
- Junior forward Nick Ward hit a pair of free throws with 2:37 left in the first half, moving him past the 1,000-point mark for his career and making him the 50th player in program history to eclipse that mark. He finished the game with six points and now has 1,003 points.
- Michigan State hit 12 3-pointers, the fourth time this season the team has connected at least 10 and the third-straight game.
Up Next
Michigan State hits the road for a matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at Louisville as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Tipoff at the Yum Center is slated for 7:30 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN, with Jason Benetti calling the play-by-play and Dan Dakich serving as the color analyst.
Team Stats
MSU
UT
FG%
.510
.344
3FG%
.600
.265
FT%
.778
.789
RB
42
23
TO
24
10
STL
4
12
Game Leaders
Pts
29
FGM
10
3FGM
5
FTM
4
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
6
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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