WASHINGTON — Aaron Henry was wrong. His viral moment, getting berated publicly by coach Tom Izzo during an NCAA Tournament game, was a big deal.
Just look at his past two performances for proof. The freshman responded to the awkward situation by playing the best basketball of his young life.
“I don’t think the attention bothered me at all,” he said.
Obviously.
Henry keyed second-seeded Michigan State’s thorough 80-63 victory over No. 2 LSU on Friday night in an East Region semifinal with the best game of his career — a 20-point, eight-rebound, six-assist, one-turnover masterpiece. In his previous game, he had nine points and nine rebounds in a rout of No. 10 Minnesota in the second round.
“When a player responds, that is probably the greatest part of my job, and this kid has taken off,” Izzo said after his team advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in four years, where it will meet No. 1 seed Duke Sunday.
“I truly do appreciate Aaron Henry. I appreciate the fact that instead of moping and complaining like everybody else in the world, he went to work. And that’s why he’s going to be a great player before he’s done.”
Henry took 14 shots and made nine of them. He keyed the Spartans’ 8-0 start and had 13 points in a dominant first half. The stage clearly isn’t too big for the 6-foot-6 Indianapolis native, a three-star recruit pressed into playing major minutes due to Josh Langford’s season-ending foot injury in late December.
Just as all the attention following Izzo chewing him out wasn’t too big for him, either.
Gabe BrownAP“It’s just people are going to have their opinion on a lot of things, and I know right from wrong,” he said. “I know when somebody is trying to help me and when somebody is trying to coach me. I came here to get coached and I came here to become the best player I can be.”
Henry’s big performance was just part of the story. Despite dominating the opening half, Michigan State (31-6) led by just 12 at the break. And after LSU (28-7) reeled off eight straight points, the sold-out Capital One Arena was buzzing, the lead suddenly tenuous. But the Spartans smiled at the roundhouse, like it was a love tap.
They did what experienced teams capable of cutting down nets do this time of year: answering the run with an even better one, an 11-0 haymaker that planted the third-seeded Tigers on the canvas for good.
In a dizzying span of 1:48, the Spartans added 11 points onto their lead and didn’t have to sweat the rest of the night. On a night two of their top weapons were quiet — Nick Ward and Matt McQuaid combined for just 10 points — and star junior Cassius Winston was effective but not dominant, Michigan State flexed its scoring depth.
Henry enjoyed the best evening of his career. Freshman Gabe Brown scored 15 points off the bench, as many points as he had produced in his past 14 games. And Xavier Tillman was a key in the paint, with 12 points and eight rebounds.
“You’ve got to play the percentages,” LSU interim coach Tony Benford said.
Michigan State turned LSU star point guard Tremont Waters into a scorer. He went off for 23 points, but had just two assists, and the Tigers made just 6-of-21 3-point attempts, a significant part of the Spartans’ easy win.
But the biggest part was the play of Henry, who believed Izzo getting on him has contributed to his recent emergence. Michigan State’s best player agrees.
“He’s got years and years of that working out for the best for players,” Winston said of Izzo. “He’s been pushing Henry all year. Been on him all year. And Henry started playing his best basketball towards the end of the year.
“I don’t want to say that’s a coincidence.”
