Tennessee TechTennessee Tech vs. Michigan StateMichigan State Pick Center

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Nov 17, 2018Michigan State's basketball team is heading to Las Vegas next week. It's a safe bet the No. 11 Spartans will collect another victory before they board the plane.They face winless Tennessee Tech on Sunday at the Breslin Center in the preliminary portion of the Las Vegas Invitational. They'll face No. 20 UCLA on Thanksgiving night in Vegas, then play No. 7 North Carolina or Texas on Friday.Michigan State (2-1) is coming off an 80-59 win over Louisiana Monroe on Wednesday. Point guard Cassius Winston took center stage, scoring 18 of his 23 points in the second half after the Spartans led by only six at the break.Winston (16.7 points, 7.3 assists per game) has been the catalyst of an offense that is averaging 91.0 points and shooting 46.1 percent from the field."I just thought he played within himself, threw some good passes, he drove some, he shot the three," coach Tom Izzo said. "He didn't look like he wanted the ball at times but I think second half did a better job. Cassius did what great players have got to do. He's got to get the ball rolling and he did get it rolling." Center Nick Ward sprained his right ankle in the first half and Winston knew he had to look for his shot more often after halftime. Backcourt partner Joshua Langford added 16 points."We were struggling to get points on the board, and I was just letting the game come to me while taking my shots," he said. "I didn't let the first half take away from my confidence, because I knew I had to come out with confidence." Ward is questionable to play Sunday.Tennessee Tech (0-4) will be playing its second consecutive ranked opponent. It was blown out by No. 7 North Carolina 108-58 on Friday.The Tar Heels overwhelmed the Golden Eagles 54-24 on the boards and converted 22 turnovers into 22 points."We've been struggling rebounding and taking care of the basketball," Tennessee Tech coach Steve Payne said. "We really wanted to see improvement on that. I think we had some good moments, and they (North Carolina) are awfully good. For us to make this game close, we had to make some shots and we didn't." Senior center Micaiah Henry led Tennessee Tech with 20 points, including 15 in the second half. Otherwise, the Golden Eagles had little success attacking the Tar Heels' defense, shooting 35.9 percent overall and 16 percent on 3-point attempts.The Golden Eagles' other losses came against Memphis, Presbyterian and Savannah State. Henry is averaging a team-high 16.5 points and 6.8 rebounds. Freshman guard Hunter Vick is the team's second-leading scorer (11.3 points) and senior forward Courtney Alexander tops it in rebounds and assists (10.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists).Tennessee Tech is getting outrebounded by 12.8 per game while committing an average of 21.5 turnovers. The Golden Eagles are shooting 25.8 percent from 3-point range.The Spartans won all three previous meetings, which came in 2005, 2010 and 2016.In the most recent matchup, the Golden Eagles kept it close before succumbing 71-63. Langford and Ward each scored 10 points and Winston contributed nine assists off the bench.

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