EAST LANSING, Mich. _ It was a workmanlike warmup for a long trip to Hawaii.
No. 3 Michigan State basketball shared the ball. It scored and rebounded at will. It defended at a high level, doing everything it was supposed to in a 94-46 blowout of Charleston Southern on Monday night.
All without Aaron Henry.
The sophomore guard went through warmups but got a chance to rest his injured ankles, four days after twisting them and playing through the pain in a win at Seton Hall. That will give Henry 11 days of rest before the Spartans take on Virginia Tech in their opener of the Maui Invitational (5 p.m./ESPN) on Nov. 25.
Xavier Tillman finished with a career-high 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Cassius Winston added 11 points and eight assists, and he delivered a heartfelt message to the Breslin Center crowd after the game.
"Thank you all, Spartan Nation. It's been a really tough time for me and my family," said Winston, whose brother, Zachary, died of suicide on Nov. 9. "Just all the support, all the love, all the flowers, I really, really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
"I lost of a piece of my heart, but you guys are keeping me going."
Freshman guard Rocket Watts also had his best game so far, though his shooting woes continued. He finished with 11 points on 4 of 14 shooting, missing all four 3-point attempts, but he added seven rebounds and six assists.
With Henry, the 6-foot-6 swingman, on the bench in warmups all night, MSU coach Tom Izzo turned to fellow sophomore Gabe Brown to start on the wing. Brown used his 6-7 height and long wingspan to his advantage, providing energy and attacking the basket at both ends of the court throughout.
Early in the game, he focused on rebounding and crashed the glass. In the second half, Brown had a driving dunk off the wing early, made a baseline cut and threw down a nasty tomahawk slam over a defender a little later. He finished in transition on an alley-oop pass on the break from Watts.
Brown finished with 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.
Kyle Ahrens played 15 minutes off the bench to preserve his troublesome back ahead of a long flight, and Izzo got senior Conner George early time on the wing while also experimenting with some bigger and smaller lineups.
