97.1 The Ticket -- With Cassius Winston's masterful performance against rival Michigan on Sunday, the chase for history is officially in full swing.
The senior point guard can become the first college basketball player ever to record 2,000 career points and 1,000 assists and he pulled closer to those marks with a career-high 32 points and nine assists as
the No. 14 Spartans topped the No. 12 Wolverines, 87-69 at the Breslin Center Sunday afternoon.
After his outburst, which also reignited national player of the year talks, Winston is sitting on 1,675 points and 802 assists.
Four players have reached the 1,000 career assist mark, but none have been able to reach the 2,000-point mark. Duke's Bobby Hurley, the all-time assist leader, came the closest.
- Bobby Hurley (Duke, 1989-1993) -- 1,076 assists; 1,731 points
- Chris Corchiani (NC State, 1987-1991) -- 1,038 assists; 1,425 points
- Ed Cota (UNC, 1996-2000) -- 1,030 assists; 1,261 points
- Jason Brickman (LIU Brooklyn, 2010-2014) -- 1,007 assists; 1,180 points
Winston seems a sure bet to hit the 2,000 point mark, needing just 325 points over a minimum of 18 more games and a maximum of 25. The Spartans have 16 regular season games remaining, plus at least one Big Ten Tournament game and, barring a complete meltdown, at least one in the NCAA Tournament. Reaching the 1K assist mark, however, will be the tougher achievement. Clearly, the deeper the Spartans go in March, the easier it is to achieve.
Here's a breakdown of what Winston would have to average to make history, based on the number of games MSU plays the rest of the season.
18 games
This would mean the Spartans get bounced in the first round of the conference tournament and in the Big Dance -- an unlikely scenario. If that were to be the case, Winston would need to average 18.1 points and 11.0 assists per game -- both very lofty numbers.
25 games
This is the maximum number of games MSU can play. This would mean reaching the Big Ten Tournament championship game, as well as the national championship. He would need to average 13.0 PPG and 7.9 APG to hit both marks.
Here's a look at the average marks Winston would need to hit in every other possible scenario the rest of the way out.
- 19 games -- 17.1 points, 10.4 assists per game
- 20 games -- 16.3 points, 9.9 assists
- 21 games -- 15.5 points, 9.4 assists
- 22 games -- 14.8 points, 9.0 assists
- 23 games -- 14.1 points, 8.6 assists
- 24 games -- 13.5 points, 8.3 assists
To this point in his career, including Sunday's impressive output, Winston is averaging 13.5 points and 6.5 assists a game. Each scenario would require Winston exceeding both marks, but after Sunday's performance, it doesn't seem too out-of-the question.
As Winston looks to chip away at the totals he needs to achieve history, the Spartans travel to Minnesota Thursday and host Purdue on Sunday. He is averaging 13.2 PPG and 6.0 APG in five career games against the Boilermakers, while posting averages of 6.5 PPG and 5.8 APG against the Gophers.
