Multiple Spartan Basketball Players Earn Big Ten Recognition
The No. 13 Michigan State Spartans came into the Breslin Center in hot pursuit of their third straight Big Ten championship on Sunday. They took out the No. 19 Ohio State Buckeyes 80-69. The win improved the men in green’s season record and conference record to 22-9 (14-6). It was the second time that legendary coach Tom Izzo has guided the Spartans to a three-peat in the Big Ten.
The team will return to the hard-court Friday, March 13, 2020, in Indianapolis. While who they will play is not yet known, they will be playing on BTN and the game will tip-off at 6:30 PM.
With the regular season over, Xavier Tillman and Cassius Winston earn major Big Ten conference recognition for their play this season with Michigan State basketball. Mex Carey the MSU basketball super SID has this recap:
Cassius Winston Earns First Team All-Big Ten Honors, Xavier Tillman Named Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State men’s basketball senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) was an All-Big Ten First Team selection and junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year by the conference’s coaches, the Big Ten office announced on Monday, March 9.
Winston was an All-Big Ten First Team selection by the coaches and the media, earning a unanimous selection by the coaches. In addition to being named Defensive Player of the Year, Tillman was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection by the coaches and the media and was selected to the All-Defensive Team. Guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) was selected to the All-Freshman team by the league’s coaches.
“It’s great when our players are recognized and this year is no different,” Head Coach Tom Izzo said. “I’m thrilled for Cassius to be recognized as a first team selection by the coaches and the media. It’s a tribute to him, not only for what he accomplished on the court this season, but also for how he handled himself during a difficult season.
“I can’t explain how proud I am of Xavier for the work he has put in since he came here three years ago. He’s one of the hardest workers we have and he does a tremendous job being a standout player, student and father. Rocket has really come on in the second half of the season and I think the best is yet to come for him.”
Winston leads Michigan State, and ranks third in the Big Ten, in scoring with 18.6 points per game and is fourth in the league with 5.9 assists. He also leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage (43.2%), is second in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (86.5%), eighth in field goal percentage (44.8%) and is tied for seventh in the league in steals (1.2)
He is one of only seven Division I players averaging at least 18.0 points, 5.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game.
When he scored 20 points against Iowa on Feb. 25, he became just one of five players in Division I history to surpass 1,900 points and 850 assists in their career.
In addition, Winston was one of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honorees.
Tillman, who was selected to the 2019-20 Academic All-America® Second Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Monday, earns All-Big Ten honors for the second-straight year.
Tillman is second on the team in scoring (13.7 ppg), leads the team in rebounds (10.3, third in the Big Ten) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg) and is third on the team in assists (3.0 apg).
He is the only Division I player averaging at least 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocked shots and is the only Division I player since 1992-93 to do so (Tim Duncan at Wake Forest in 1996-97 and Bo Outlaw in 1992-93 at Houston). In addition, Tillman is also the only Big Ten player among the top-15 in the league in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots.
Watts finished the regular season with 16 starts in 27 games played, averaging 9.0 points per game, including 10.2 points per game in Big Ten Conference action, while adding 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists.
He scored in double figures in the last four games of the regular season and five of the last seven overall, including tying his career-high of 21 points at Illinois and against Iowa.
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