After securing the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday, the Michigan State Spartans have a great chance to cut down the nets in Chicago this weekend.
It hasn’t been an easy year for Michigan State, which entered the year losing two key players to the NBA in Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. To make matters worse, two of the team’s three most important players, Joshua Langford and Nick Ward, went down with injuries.
Langford is done for the year and the jury is still out on Ward’s availability in the NCAA Tournament, but even without them, the Spartans have an outstanding chance to win the Big Ten’s automatic bid. Let’s take a look at five key reasons why Michigan State will emerge victorious in Chicago, starting with . . .
5. Kenny Goins has become a vital cog in the Michigan State offense
For years, former walk-on Kenny Goins has been a solid member of the Spartans’ rotation, but he has never been a go-to guy. That role has fallen to more talented bigs, such as Bridges or Ward, but that changed this year when the injuries hit.
Goins has been forced into a more active offensive role and has thrived, scoring in double figures in five of Michigan State’s last seven games. A big key for Goins’ renaissance has been a remarkable increase in 3-point shooting.
After shooting just 26.7 percent from beyond the arc a year ago, Goins is knocking down 38.9 percent of his three’s, helping space the floor from the 4 spot while Xavier Tillman starts down low. That floor spacing is key for Michigan State since it opens up more passing lanes for Cassius Winston to find open teammates.
4. Xavier Tillman is emerging as a force down low
The loss of Ward elevated sophomore Xavier Tillman into the Spartans’ starting lineup. In the final five games of the regular season, all of which were without Ward, Tillman has averaged 14.4 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per night.
Tillman has also worked hard to improve his conditioning, getting into much better shape now than he was at the end of last season, which has allowed him to absorb the added minutes with ease. With Ward’s return far from guaranteed, Tillman’s presence in the paint has helped the Spartans’ offense continue to click on all cylinders.