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The Spartans have earned their first Big Ten win of the season behind 27 points from Aaron Henry, defeating Nebraska 84-77.
Michigan State came into the contest dropping three straight in Big Ten play to open the 2020-21 conference season. Tom Izzo’s squad has needed a jolt and the junior Henry gave the Spartans exactly what they needed.
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Found a way to get the win 🏀 pic.twitter.com/Y1Nsycf1ED
— Michigan State Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) January 3, 2021
Michigan State and Nebraska kept pace with one another for the majority of the first half. The Spartans managed to put together an 8-0 run to help pull a few possessions away from the Cornhuskers before going into the half up 40-33.
An early second-half jump allowed Michigan State to pull ahead by 17 points and led Nebraska to play catch up for the rest of the game. The Cornhuskers would cut the MSU lead down to 5 but did not get any closer than that, leading to MSU’s first conference victory.
Michigan State has been looking for someone to take ahold of games and lead the pack with an ability to take over games, similar to what Cassius Winston used to do. Aaron Henry took that challenge personally tonight, scoring 27 points on 10-16 shooting.
Josh Langford aided Henry’s efforts, showing flashes of the player he used to be, scoring 15 points. Gabe Brown was the only other Spartan in double figures, scoring 10.
Michigan State is headed back in the right direction as the Big Ten season is set to unfold. A win over Nebraska will hopefully give the team much-needed confidence and the ability to turn around what has been an ugly Big Ten season thusfar.
Michigan State will be back in action on Tuesday, January 5th, at 9 p.m. EST against Rutgers.
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