National Basketball Association
Michigan St 91, Nebraska 76
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing, Michigan
Officials:
# Terry Wymer, # Bill Ek, # Robert Riley
Attendance:
14797
By Field Level Media
With just two home games left in their Michigan State careers, seniors Kenny Goins and Matt McQuaid picked the perfect time to have career games.
Each scored a career best Tuesday, with Goins netting 24 and McQuaid going for 22 as No. 9 Michigan State rolled over Nebraska 91-76 in East Lansing, Mich.
With one game left Saturday at home against Michigan, the Spartans (24-6, 15-4 Big Ten) are tied with the Wolverines in first place, along with Purdue, which lost at Minnesota on Tuesday night.
Goins buried a career-high six 3-pointers after going 5-for-5 in the first half and scoring 21 in the opening 20 minutes. McQuaid was 4-for-5 from 3-point range for the Spartans while freshman Aaron Henry added a career-best 15 points. Xavier Tillman chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds while Cassius Winston scored eight points and handed out 10 assists.
James Palmer Jr. scored 30 for Nebraska (15-15, 5-14) as the Cornhuskers cut a 20-point deficit to seven in the second half before Michigan State pulled away. Glynn Watson Jr. added 25 for the Huskers while Isaiah Roby chipped in 10.
It was clear from the jump that Goins was going to be a major factor in the game as he hit two consecutive 3-pointers to open the scoring for Michigan State. Later in the half, it was Goins' two free throws that sparked the 19-2 surge as the Spartans turned a 12-11 deficit into a 30-14 lead after McQuaid hit on of his three first-half triples.
The Spartans were 9-for-14 from 3-point range in the opening half as both Goins and McQuaid (3-for-3) were perfect.
Palmer did his best to keep the Cornhuskers in the game, scoring 14 in the first half while Watson added 10. However, the Huskers had few answers for Michigan State's shooting and trailed 47-29 at halftime.
After Henry hit a pair of free throws to open the second half to put the Spartans ahead by 20, Nebraska started to slowly chip away at the deficit. A three-point play from Palmer cut the margin to 60-50 with 13:23 to play before the Huskers got within 62-55 after Roby split a pair of free throws.
McQuaid took over from there, scoring five of the next seven points as Michigan State had a five-point possession to push the lead to 69-55 with 10:31 to play and essentially put the game away.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Nebraska |
|
Michigan St |
|
James Palmer Jr. 30 |
Scoring |
Kenny Goins 24 |
|
Isaiah Roby 5 |
Assists |
Cassius Winston 10 |
|
Isaiah Roby 9 |
Rebounds |
Kenny Goins 8 |
|
James Palmer Jr. 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Matt McQuaid 6 |
|
James Palmer Jr. 3 |
Steals |
Matt McQuaid 2 |
|
Isaiah Roby 2 |
Blocks |
Xavier Tillman 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Nebraska
|
76 |
41.9 |
10-27 |
14-24 |
11 |
30 |
2 |
5 |
9 |
| Michigan St
|
91 |
53.3 |
12-24 |
15-17 |
22 |
38 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
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