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Big Ten Basketball: 2018-19 Storylines for Michigan State at Nebraska

COLUMBUS, OH - JANUARY 5: Head Coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans shouts instructions to his team in the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 5, 2019 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - JANUARY 5: Head Coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans shouts instructions to his team in the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 5, 2019 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – NOVEMBER 06: Tom Izzo the head coach talks with Joshua Langford #1 of the Michigan State Spartans shoots the ball against the Kansas Jayhawks during the State Farm Champions Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on November 6, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – NOVEMBER 06: Tom Izzo the head coach talks with Joshua Langford #1 of the Michigan State Spartans shoots the ball against the Kansas Jayhawks during the State Farm Champions Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on November 6, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

1. The Spartans will likely be shorthanded

During his press conference earlier this week, Tom Izzo suggested that both Josh Langford and Kyle Ahrens will likely be out for this game. The Spartans coach will have to look to his bench to fill the nearly 50 minutes of playing time these two combine for on average this season.

Both Langford and Ahrens missed the Spartans most recent game against Penn State, which forced freshman Aaron Henry into the starting lineup and freshman Gabe Brown into heavier minutes. Neither produced eye-popping numbers, but with Cassius Winston and Nick Ward continuing their run of stellar play, neither was called upon to do anything special.

No disrespect to the Nittany Lions, but Nebraska has a vastly superior basketball team this season. It is for that reason that one of either Henry or Brown will likely need to have a better game if the Spartans are going to take care of business in Lincoln.

Henry has shown glimpses of what made him a four-start recruit and a young player Spartan fans are reasonably excited about, but he just hasn’t put it all together quite yet. Perhaps a starting role and extended minutes are just what the doctor ordered to thrust him forward in the development process – better now than in March.