EAST LANSING — Something changed when Cassius Winston visited Ann Arbor last year. Both in him and Michigan State basketball.
Maybe it was because Michigan had won three in a row in the series. Maybe the Michigan State star got tired of hearing how Zavier Simpson owned their point guard rivalry in those.
Whatever it was, the rivalry pushed Winston beyond the gains he'd already made in his breakout season.
He turned into a late-game scoring assassin.
He dominated his competition off the dribble.
He became a champion twice over, and the first point guard in the rivalry to ever direct three victories for either team in the same season.