Cassius Winston had 18 points and eight assists and No. 11 Michigan State cruised to a 70-52 win over host Minnesota in a Big Ten Conference matchup Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Xavier Tillman added 17 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan State (15-5, 7-2 Big Ten), which won for the 10th time in the past 12 games. Rocket Watts had 10 points, and Aaron Henry scored nine off the bench.
Daniel Oturu finished with 19 points to lead the Golden Gophers, while Gabe Kalscheur scored 15. Minnesota (11-9, 5-5) lost at home for the first time since Nov. 29 against DePaul.
The Spartans shot 47.3 percent overall and 41.2 percent (7 of 17) from beyond the arc. Minnesota shot 28.1 percent from the field and 17.9 percent (5 of 28) from deep.
Michigan State used a late 7-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Spartans got a layup from Tillman, a 3-pointer by Winston and another layup from Tillman to go ahead 61-45 with 5:38 remaining.
The Golden Gophers had pulled within six points of the lead after Oturu made a three-point play with 17:04 to go. That cut the deficit to 39-33, but Michigan State quickly responded with a slam dunk by Gabe Brown on the next possession.
Winston converted a four-point play in the opening minute of the second half to set the tone for the Spartans' final 20 minutes. He hit a 3-pointer and drew a foul on the play with 19:08 remaining.
Michigan State built a 30-22 lead at the half.
The Spartans went on a 12-0 run midway through the first half to pull ahead 22-9. The outburst included a layup by Malik Hall, a jump shot by Watts, two free throws by Tillman, a 3-pointer by Winston and finally a three-point play by Hall with a jump shot and a free throw.
Minnesota cut the deficit to single digits as it finished the half with a 13-8 edge. The Golden Gophers' Tre' Williams capped the scoring when he drained a 3-pointer off a feed from Marcus Carr.
--Field Level Media
