Michigan State Basketball: 3 most clutch players during 3-game winning streak

1. Aaron Henry

Aaron Henry didn’t necessarily have many flashy clutch plays, but he was the most important player when it mattered for the Michigan State basketball team.

In the absence of Foster Loyer, the Spartans have been without their secondary ball handler. But Henry has stepped up, filling in at point guard when this team is in a close game. In the Illinois game and Ohio State game, he was running the point when it came down to the wire.

Against Illinois, he facilitated well, but continued to hit vitally important shots that keep the Spartans out of reach. With under eight minutes left, he scored six points when the Spartans began to struggle to create offense. His buckets won’t be remembered like Langford’s, but they were huge.

In the Ohio State game, he would be the same rock that has kept this team grounded in their past couple of games. He would once again run the point, getting his own shots up when he needed to. In the last 3:05 of the game, he’d hit a couple of clutch free throws and a jumper with just over a minute left.

He also stepped up big defensively, most notably playing strong defense against EJ Liddell, a guy that Tom Izzo’s team struggled to defend against all night. In a huge 1-on-1 situation at the end of the game, Henry didn’t let him get down low, causing a horrible shot attempt by Liddell. This gave the Michigan State basketball team a ton of momentum to finish things out.