Tech was able to keep Cassius Winston from dominating
Another aspect of Mooney’s performance that was just as big as his shooting was his defense on Michigan State point guard Cassius Winston. The first-team All-American and Big 10 Player of the Year did manage to put up 16 points but as we said it must prior to this game, Tech was able to make him incredibly inefficient as he hit just 4-16 shots from the floor.
Whats more, Winston was held to 2-8 shooting from 3-point range and had it not been for his 6-6 night from the free throw line, he would have been even less impactful. His 25% shooting effort was his third-worst of the season and his lowest since February 17th when he went just 3-15 in a win over Ohio State.
But even more importantly was the fact that he registered only two assists. That’s because he entered the game averaging 7.5 per game (third-most in the country).
The Red Raider defense forced Winston into four turnovers marking only the second time this year that he has had more turnovers than assists. Prior to the game, we said that Tech needed to force 15 turnovers and though they fell four shy of that mark, they were able to do a tremendous job on Winston and make him incredibly uncomfortable for most of the night which helped to keep the Michigan State offense stuck in neutral.