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Big Ten Basketball: Cassius Winston, Tyler Cook lead All-NCAA Tournament team

By Anthony Brown

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: The Virginia Cavaliers celebrate their teams 85-77 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders to win the the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: The Virginia Cavaliers celebrate their teams 85-77 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders to win the the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Cassius Winston – Michigan State

2019 NCAA Tournament Stats: 18.4 PPG, 6.6 APG, 2.0 RPG
2018-19 Season Stats: 18.8 PPG, 7.5 APG, 3.0 RPG

Winston is the unquestioned leader for the Spartans and has played some of his best basketball in the tournament. He has been a consistent scorer and passer  for the Spartans this season and his play earned him AP First-Team All-America, NCAA Second Team All- America, Most Outstanding Player in the Big Ten Tournament, Big Ten Player of the Year and he is the only player in the country averaging at least 18.0 points per game, seven assists per game and making at least 40 percent of his three-point shots this season.

Going back to the Spartans February 24th win against the Michigan Wolverines, 77-70, Winston dropped 27 points and eight assists in that game and that performance stood out to me for a couple of reasons. First, his court vision is spectacular. He reads the floor and passing lanes so well and is able to find the open man fairly easily. Second, not only can he pass the ball really well, he hurts defenses as a scorer. Third, he has improved as a defender. In the three meetings between the two teams, Winston held Xavier Simpson to 19 points and six points in both March meetings.

He carried that momentum into the NCAA Tournament. When Cassius Winston plays well, Michigan State plays great. Unfortunately for the Spartans, their tournament run came to an end against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in a 61-51 final four loss. Matt Mooney scored 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and made 4-of-8 shots from three to lead all scorers. Winston led the Spartans with 16 points. It’s unknown whether Cassius Winston will come back for his senior season with the Spartans. I along with many others would like to see that happen.

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