Michigan State's Cassius Winston on Sports Illustrated's midseason All-America 2nd team

The Michigan State men's basketball team boasts the Big Ten's most potent offense, leading the conference in scoring, 3-point shooting and assists.

A big reason why has been the play of junior point guard Cassius Winston, who on Thursday was named to Sports Illustrated's midseason All-America second team.

"Winston is the engine that makes the sixth-ranked Spartans go," Sports Illustrated writes, "ranking fifth nationally in assists with 7.4 (per game)."

 Winston leads the Spartans (15-2, 6-0 Big Ten) in scoring at 17.6 points, having scored in double figures in 16 of 17 games this season, and has knocked down 45.4 percent of his 3-pointers.

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He's helped keep Michigan State rolling, despite injuries to starter Joshua Langford and key reserve Kyle Ahrens. Michigan State enters Thursday night's game at Nebraska riding a 10-game winning streak.

"(Winston) has become even more invaluable of late after an injury to backcourt mate Joshua Langford," Sports Illustrated writes.

Langford is expected to miss his fifth straight game Thursday night with an ankle injury, while Ahrens was sidelined in Sunday's game at Penn State with a sprained back.