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

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.