EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Cassius Winston had six points and four assists to give him the Big Ten record for career assists as No. 15 Michigan State beat Wisconsin 67-55 Friday night.
The Spartans (14-4, 6-1 Big Ten) stayed in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten and bounced back from a 71-42 loss at Purdue.
The Badgers (11-7, 4-3) trailed the entire game, but went on a 13-0 run with Nate Reuvers scoring 11 points to cut their deficit to six points early in the second half.
Cassius Winston is Michigan State's all-time assist leader — and the Big Ten’s all-time assist leader.
He passed Mateen Cleaves, who watched the game in person. pic.twitter.com/1nAnaPmPSL
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 18, 2020
Michigan State pulled away with balanced scoring and stingy defense, building a 63-39 lead.
Shortly thereafter, Winston threw an alley-oop lob to Xavier Tillman, giving him four assists in the game and 817 in his career. Former Spartan Mateen Cleaves, who attended the game, ended his national championship-winning career with 816 assists in 2000.
Mateen Cleaves celebrated Cassius Winston passing his Michigan State and Big Ten assists record.
"Congratulations," Cleaves told him. "Let's make it a special year." pic.twitter.com/4mM4oDLXhF
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 18, 2020
Tillman had 15 points and nine rebounds, Gabe Brown and Aaron Henry scored 13 points apiece and reserve Rocket Watts added 11 points.
Reuvers scored 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting and Kobe King had 10 points for the Badgers.
BIG PICTURE
Wisconsin: The Badgers shot poorly early and didn't recover, making just 36% of their shots.
Michigan State: Winston can get back to playing naturally after looking like he was forcing passes to get Cleaves' record out of the way.
UP NEXT
Wisconsin: Hosts Nebraska on Tuesday night.
Michigan State: Plays at Indiana on Thursday night.
