Michigan State Basketball: Player grades for blowout win over Oakland

Starters

Only one player reached 10 points on Saturday and it wasn’t Cassius Winston. That might seem like a disappointment, but it actually proved to be a balanced scoring attack. The Spartans’ defense, too, was above average.

Cassius Winston: C+

As we said earlier, Cassius had one of his worst games, but he showed more energy on the defensive end, which actually kept him from getting a C/C- and made up for the lack of offense. He had nine points, four turnovers and three assists while shooting just 3-for-13 from the floor. His shot was flat all night long and it showed with his 1-for-9 shooting from deep. He’ll have better games but he may just want to forget this one altogether.

Gabe Brown: B

Tom Izzo even admitted after the game that Gabe Brown struggled, but he didn’t have that bad of a game. He didn’t hunt for his shot much, but he still finished 3-for-8 from the floor but 0-for-5 from deep. He has been getting good looks lately, but his shots aren’t falling. He needs to get aggressive again and take the ball to the hoop. Brown did show more aggression on the glass, grabbing six rebounds and if he can use his length to continue that trend, the Spartans will be tough to beat.

Aaron Henry: B+

Getting challenged by a Hall of Fame head coach can bring the best out of a player and make him work even harder and I think that’s what we’re starting to see with Aaron Henry. He may be the most naturally talented player on the team, but sometimes he doesn’t even realize that. He hasn’t been aggressive enough, but that all changed against Oakland as he looked for his own shot more and even tried taking defenders off the dribble. Henry had a team-high 10 points to go along with six assists, two rebounds, a steal and a block, but he did have four turnovers.

Marcus Bingham Jr.: B

Another small sample size awaited Marcus Bingham Jr. on Saturday afternoon and until his conditioning is where it should be, we probably won’t see him on the court for more than 15 minutes a game. He played 13 minutes and finished with five points, four rebounds and two blocks and his length was a problem for the Grizzlies down low. When Bingham finally puts it all together, he’s going to be a gem.

Xavier Tillman: A-

There’s still a lack of a true post scoring presence and that’s something Xavier Tillman needs to continue working on. He has the tools, he just needs to piece everything together. Tillman was just short of a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds with two blocks and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor. Getting him only four shots is criminal, though, and the Spartans need to feed him more down low. He was only 1-for-5 from the free throw line which was not pretty.