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Michigan State Spartans 86-65 Over The Cornhuskers Official Game Thread

Michigan State Spartans 86-65 Over The Cornhuskers Official Game Thread
Hondo S. Carpenter Sr.|
Michigan State Spartans 86-65 Over The Cornhuskers Official Game Thread
Michigan State Spartans 86-65 Over The Cornhuskers Official Game Thread

The Michigan State Spartans hosted No. 9 Maryland and lost 67-60. The loss took the men in green’s season record and conference record to 17-9 (9-5).

Tonight he team will return to the hard-court in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Pinnacle Center. They will be taking on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. It can be seen on FS1 at 8:30 PM ET.

Here are five quick notes about the Spartans vs. Huskers from MSU super SID Mex Carey:

1. Series History

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 16-9 ... MSU has won eight of 11 meetings as Big Ten foes, including two games last year ... Overall, the Spartans are 7-6 on the road in the series ... Tom Izzo holds an 8-3 series advantage against the Cornhuskers ... This will be his first matchup head-to-head against Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg ... The teams met six times between 1988 and 1994 but did not meet again until the 2011-12 season.

2. Last Year Against Nebraska

The Spartans swept a pair of games last year, beating Nebraska, 70-64, on Jan. 17 in Lincoln, and followed that up with a 91-76 win on March 5 ... In the first meeting, Cassius Winston scored a then-career-high 29 points and MSU hit nine free throws in the final minute to hang on for a 70-64 win ... Nick Ward had his second-straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Kenny Goins added seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds ... In the second meeting, the Spartans took a 47-29 lead at halftime en route to a 91-76 win at the Breslin Center ... Goins scored a career-high 24 points and hit six 3-pointers and Matt McQuaid scored 22 points as four players scored in double figures ... Aaron Henry had 15 points and five rebounds, Xavier Tillman added 11 points and eight rebounds and Winston had eight points and 10 assists.

3. Father & Son Matchup

When Michigan State plays at Nebraska on Thursday night in Lincoln, Neb., it provides a unique matchup as Spartans redshirt sophomore guard Jack Hoiberg and his teammates face the Cornhuskers, coached by his father, Fred Hoiberg ... The younger Hoiberg said his mother, brothers, all four of his grandparents and some aunts and uncles plan to be at Pinnacle Bank Arena ... His father was born in Lincoln and his grandfather coached there.

4. Family Matters

Michigan State junior forward Xavier Tillman had a busy weekend, with the Spartans playing Maryland over the weekend at home ... On top of that, Tillman’s wife, Tamia, gave birth to their second child, a boy, Xavier Justis Tillman Jr. on Monday morning ... Tillman’s wife gave birth to the 7-pound, 8-ounce baby boy at 12:38 a.m. on Feb. 17 ... This is the second child for the couple, who have a 3-year-old daughter, Ayanna ... Tillman did not practice on Monday but was back with the team on Tuesday.

5. About the Spartans

Senior guard Cassius Winston leads MSU, and ranks third in the Big Ten, in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game … Winston is also fourth in the league in assists (5.7 apg), first in free throw percentage, connecting on 86.2 percent of his shots (94-of-109), 10th in field goal percentage (42.2%), third in 3-point percentage (38.6%) and tied for second in steals (1.3 spg) ... Junior forward Xavier Tillman is second on the team with 13.7 points per game (12th in the Big Ten) and tops the team (3rd in the Big Ten) with 10.3 rebounds per game, while adding 3.0 assists (T14th in the Big Ten) per game and 2.1 blocks per game (T4th in the Big Ten) ... Tillman is the only player in the league in the top-15 in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocks ... Sophomore forward Aaron Henry is third on the team with 9.5 points per game, while adding 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists ... MSU has four other players averaging at least 4.0 points per game, led by freshman guard Rocket Watts, who scored a career-high 21 points at Illinois, who is averaging 7.7 points per game (8.4 in Big Ten games) ... Sophomore forward Gabe Brown is averaging 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds ... Freshman forward Malik Hall, who has started the last six games, is averaging 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds, and sophomore forward Marcus Bingham Jr. is averaging 4.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks.

Tell us what you think in the comment section below throughout the game and constantly refresh for the latest updates from the game.

STARTERS:  Hoiberg, Henry, Winston, Tillman, and Hall

Xavier Tillman is going for his fourth straight double double.

UPDATE:  First media timeout of the first half and the Michigan State Spartans trail the Nebraska Cornhuskers 7-8.  15:31

UPDATE: Second media timeout of the first half and the Michigan State Spartans trail the Nebraska Cornhuskers 12-15. 11:31

UPDATE: third media timeout of the first half and the Michigan State Spartans lead the Nebraska Cornhuskers 28-23. 7:02

UPDATE: FINAL media timeout of the first half and the Michigan State Spartans lead the Nebraska Cornhuskers 30-27. 3:53  Nine terrible MSU turnovers.

UPDATE: first media timeout of the second half and the Michigan State Spartans lead the Nebraska Cornhuskers 48-41. 15:58.  13 terrible MSU turnovers.

UPDATE: second media timeout of the second half and the Michigan State Spartans lead the Nebraska Cornhuskers 57-47. 11:54. 17 terrible MSU turnovers.

UPDATE: third media timeout of the second half and the Michigan State Spartans lead the Nebraska Cornhuskers 67-54. 8:09. 18 terrible MSU turnovers.

UPDATE: final media timeout of the second half and the Michigan State Spartans lead the Nebraska Cornhuskers 76-58. 3:23. 21 terrible MSU turnovers.

Spartans blow out Nebraska 86-65.  The win improves the men in green’s season record and conference record to 18-9 (10-5). 

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Hondo S. Carpenter Sr.
HONDO S. CARPENTER SR.

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