Langford, Winston lead MSU past Youngstown State

East Lansing — Michigan State continues to adjust to life without Miles Bridges and on Tuesday night against Youngstown State, it was more of the freshman class that picked up the slack.

Joshua Langford scored a career-high 15 points while guard Cassius Winston handed out nine assists in Michigan State’s 77-57 victory over Youngstown State at the Breslin Center.

“I think we took another step, a small step though,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “What I was most excited about was we really challenged Josh and Cassius the last two games. The turnovers are down — we had 16 assists and two turnovers with our point guards and that’s phenomenal. But Cassius’ defense and Josh’s defense was the difference early in the game.”

Early in the game was when Michigan State (6-4) went on a 19-2 run to open an early 19-4 lead. Youngstown State clawed back into it, however, with a 10-0 run and trailed only 37-30 at halftime.

But Izzo adjusted his starting lineup to open the second half, inserting Langford, Winston and freshman Nick Ward instead of bringing them off the bench. It paid off as the Spartan turned a five-point game into a blowout with several minutes left in the game.

“We just want to accept the challenge he gives us,” Langford said. “Coach Izzo is not making anything up. He’s been doing it a long time and what he sees and tells us is all true. For us to become great players we have to listen to him. That’s the reason we all came here, to become better players. We have to go out there and listen to him and compete.”

Getting that competition from Langford is exactly what Michigan State needs at this point of the season, and the fact Winston is coming along and Ward continues to be an offensive force could position the Spartans well for when Bridges does return.

In the meantime, getting Langford to be the player everyone expects him to be will be critical. He was hampered early in the season with hamstring injury but is just now working at 100 percent. For the 6-foot-5 guard, it’s not the physical part that has been limiting him, however.

“I feel like it’s more mental with me,” said Langford, who was 6-for-8 shooting. “I just wanted to come in and say I was going to give my all, give my teammates my all. I wasn’t thinking about trying to score at all. I just wanted to come out and defend and rebound and run the floor.”

Winston is convinced Langford is just scratching the surface.

Freshmen aren’t only Spartans seeking consistent play

“You all haven’t seen Josh’s full potential yet,” Winston said. “Not even nowhere close to what he can be for this team and what he can be for this country. He’s gonna keep making progress and get when he gets to his full ability and what he should be we will be a much better team because he’s a talented kid.”

While Langford and Winston drew plenty of praise, the Spartans also got 13 points each from Ward and senior Eron Harris while sophomore Matt McQuaid added 11 points.

Matt Donlan scored 21 to lead Youngstown State (5-5), which was without leading scorer and Flint native Cameron Morse. Francisco Santiago added 13 points for the Penguins.

“In their building without our best scorer, I had hoped that we could get to 65 or 70 points,” Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum said. “We just didn’t have enough and they had a lot.”

The Penguins had plenty in the first half as they overcome the early push by the Spartans and outscored them 26-18 over the final 12 minutes of the first halt to trail Michigan State, 37-30, at halftime.

Ward and Langford each scored eight for the Spartans in the first half while Michigan State scored 14 on the break and had 20 points from its bench. It finished the game with a 23-7 advantage on the break while its bench outscored Youngstown State’s 43-9.

Youngstown State continued to put pressure on the home team early in the second half and trimmed the deficit to five thanks to four early 3-pointers. But that’s when Winston took over the offense and sparked Michigan State as the lead grew to 22 points.

“We did a lot of good things,” Winston said. “The biggest thing was the energy level, especially at the beginning of the game.

The energy level was maybe the biggest of the season. We played with energy but played smart at the same time. We made good plays and sound decisions and we’ve got to keep building on that, because that is what wins us games.”

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @mattcharboneau