Spartans Continue to Aim for the Top

Jack Kirwan
For MSUAthletics.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's basketball team entered the 2019-20 season determined to improve on the ending to last year.

When you win the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships, and then reach the Final Four – for the eighth time under Head Coach Tom Izzo – that makes for a tough ending to top, much less rewrite.

Most programs would be happy with those achievements. But this Michigan State team entered the season with lofty expectations. The Spartans were ranked No. 1 in the preseason and felt better knowing that preseason national player of the year Cassius Winston, along with senior backcourt mate Joshua Langford, along with two other starters – junior forward Xavier Tillman and sophomore forward Aaron Henry – would be back as well.

Izzo wanted the Spartans to enjoy being ranked No. 1 in the country, as it offers an opportunity for his players to play with some pressure. "I wanted to embrace it because I didn't have any choice," he explained. "But I wanted to embrace it also because I wanted these guys to learn how to deal with expectations."

And while the preseason No. 1 ranking didn't last long – the Spartans lost to then-No. 2 Kentucky in the Champions Classic to open the season – Izzo also stressed that the team will continue to benefit from all of its past experiences throughout the rest of the season.

Soon after the loss to Kentucky, MSU played at then-No. 12 Seton Hall and came away with a 76-73 win in what was looked at as the biggest game the Pirates had hosted. And when the Spartans played in the Maui Invitational, each game and each opponent provided challenges, first in a loss to Virginia Tech, then in wins over Georgia and UCLA.

"Many of our players have been in a Final Four, they've played in an Elite Eight and they've been upset before," Izzo said of the early season schedule. "I think entering the season with that target on our back and coming off the great year we had last year has helped us be well versed in how to handle things."

And this Michigan State team has had to handle quite a bit.

Just before the start of the season, Izzo and the team learned that Langford would be out until at least January with a foot injury. In late December, Langford had surgery and will miss the entire season.

And just after the season opener, Zachary Winston, the younger brother of Cassius Winston, passed away suddenly. His older brother, one of MSU's captains, continued to play, drawing on the strength and encouragement of his family, teammates, coaches and fans to help him along the way.

There have been other things. Henry missed the Charleston Southern game after a sprained ankle, freshman guard Rocket Watts, who had started the first six games of the year, missed four games after a lower leg injury. And then Winston sat out the Western Michigan game on Dec. 29 after a bruised knee.

Henry says that through it all, the team has found a new perspective on the court because of the special experiences they had last year and what they have gone through this year.

"Going to a Final Four, how many people get to do that?" he explained. "How many people return their next year and have a chance at it again? We've had our challenges this year, but we knew the expectations were going to be high and we've embraced that. We know there's a long season ahead of us."

After beating Eastern Michigan, 101-48, to improve 9-3 heading into the break for Christmas, the team earned a much-needed break, one that the players said would be helpful to recharge for the remainder of the Big Ten season.

"It's definitely important, especially with all we've been through as a team," Winston said. "It's that mental break that's probably even more important for us than the physical. There is a lot that we've gone through so to just get a break and see family, get some gifts and eat some food then come back and regroup will be very important for us."

The Spartans closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 95-62 win over Western Michigan after Christmas (Dec. 29) and then turned its attention toward the remainder of the schedule – 18 Big Ten Conferences, the first on Jan. 2 against Illinois at home, and the first of three games in a week's span.

That early-season schedule is what prepares us for the conference season and the tournament, especially our young guys," Tillman said. "Being able to play those top tier teams early on, and playing in a tournament in Maui and then getting games at home where our younger guys can get experience, it's going to be a good test to see where we are and what we need to work on for the rest of the season."

Winston, despite what he has had to handle personally, has produced as expected, averaging 17.6 points and 6.1 assists per game. Tillman is second on the team in scoring (13.1 points per game) and leads the team in rebounding (9.9 rpg), while Henry is averaging 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

The younger guys have started to find their way too. Brown is fourth on the team in minutes played, has started six games and was averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds. A trio of players – sophomores Marcus Bingham Jr. and Thomas Kithier and freshman Malik Hall – have combined to play most of the minutes at one of the forward spots, putting together 15.8 points and 11.6 rebounds.

A season in any sport can be a roller coaster of ups and downs, wins and losses. This year's Michigan State has experienced more than their share and it has provided a different set of expectations as well.

"I'm starting to feel more comfortable that I can only control what I can control," Izzo said after the Western Michigan game on Dec. 29. "The other day when (Cassius) hurt the knee a little bit in practice, I didn't go home and cry, I didn't feel bad. I just told him, 'Hey, we'll get ya back.' I have a different perspective. Unfortunately, maybe I needed a slap in the face.

"We'll say that winning and losing is like life and death. Then you realize it's not. At the same time, you've got a job to do and I gotta make sure that I do my job. I must have said 50 times in the huddle tonight, 'I told you to do your job.' As Bill Belichick said once. Well, I told my assistants after, we better do our job too. Our job is to hold them accountable to doing their job. And that's not an easy thing to do. There's going to be some roadkill going along with that. This team is good enough to succeed despite all that we've been through and all we've lost."

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Malik Hall

Aaron Henry

Thomas Kithier

Joshua Langford

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston