Michigan State Basketball: Why Spartans are the No. 1 team in the country
By Ryan Kay
4. Winston and Ward
Cassius Winston has become a superstar on the college basketball stage. He is likely to be named Big Ten Player of the Year and 1st team All-American. His stats for this season doesn’t truly illustrate his impact on the Spartans and their success. He averages 18 points a game, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.
The stat that really jumps out at you is his 7.3 assists per game. Izzo can’t stop himself from praising Winston and he gave Cassius a huge hug in the middle of the game against Maryland which is very rare to see Izzo do. Winston’s defense has greatly improved this season and his leadership, court vision, and his ability to run in transition and find the open player is greatly improved from last season. It helps that Winston has a big man that he trusts who can score in the post and kick it out to the open person when double teamed in Ward.
Ward is averaging a career-high 15.7 points per game and more importantly a career high with 22.5 minutes per game. Like Winston, Ward’s stats do not tell the whole story of his contributions to the team. He has improved on his conditioning and appears to be in the best shape since coming to East Lansing. Winston and Ward are a dynamic 1-2 punch which propels this Michigan State team to Elite status.