EAST LANSING — He looked light and bouncy from the start. Not that anyone ever accused Cassius Winston of playing on air, above the rim.

No, his charisma and influence on the basketball court is more earthbound, arising from what and how he sees. He slows the game, as they say, and bends it toward its own ambling pace.

We took it for granted that Winston plays basketball unlike almost no other in the college game. Until that skill disappeared six weeks ago, after the Michigan State point guard lost his brother, Zachary Winston, to suicide.

Winston didn’t want to be on the court for a while after he lost his brother. But he has been finding his way through the pain lately, and the court is slowly becoming the place where he expresses his truest self.

That was evident last Thursday against Illinois, when WInston had his best game of the season. And it was clearer Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center, when he arguably had the best game of his career.

From the first Michigan State possession, when he waited for a high-ball screen from Xavier Tillman, casually glided around it before letting a long jump shot go, Winston looked joyous, even free, at least for a couple hours leading his Spartans to an 87-69 win over rival Michigan.

If this is where Winston is headed, and this is how his team will respond, this is a team plenty capable of making another March run.

Yes, U-M didn’t have its second-leading scorer, Isaiah Livers — and its best shooter. And Juwan Howard is new to the rivalry, at least as a coach.

But Sunday was about Winston rediscovering his joy on the basketball court. Not to mention his 3-point shot and ability to slow the game and spy the angles and control everything around him.

He finished with 32 points and just about as many smiles, sometimes cupping his ear to the roaring crowd.

It’s been a while since he’s shown that. Understandably. And while he is a long way from feeling free of heartache, he found a piece of himself again in the place he felt so lost a month ago.

It was a kind of primal release. U-M never had a chance.Wolverines’ seniors did their best
There is nothing prolific or flashy about U-M’s senior point guard and center. But Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske are as solid a pairing as there is in the Big Ten. They’ve won a lot of games. And while they came up short Sunday, their play kept the Wolverines close.

Simpson got the best of Winston when they were sophomores. Last year, Winston returned the favor and became the conference player of the year in part because of what he did against Simpson.

And while Simpson didn’t put up the point totals Winston did Sunday, he kept his team in the game with timely pokes and lay-ups and lobs. He also hit a 3-pointer.

He controls the pace of U-M as well as Winston controls MSU’s, and when he partners with Teske on high-ball screens, the two of them create space for everyone else on the floor. When Livers is healthy, that space is even more valuable.

More: How Cassius Winston and Zavier Simpson made Michigan State vs. Michigan a 1-on-1 matchup

Without him, though, Howard was happy to let Simpson control the top and Teske plant himself down low.

The 7-foot senior is more comfortable on the block this season. Besides, MSU struggles with size, especially size with bulk, as Tillman, Hall, Kithier, Bingham and Marble are all a bit, well, undersized.

At least against true bigs like Teske. If not for his patience and soft hands, MSU might have run away with the game in the first half.

Teske also hit a 3-pointer and played his usual sticky interior defense, denying Tillman in the post several times early in the game, forcing Izzo to go away from that design.

Henry has room to grow
As well as Winston and Tillman played, they aren’t going to combine for 52 points most games. And the Spartans will need more offensive punch from other places.

It may sound old at this point, but Aaron Henry has more to give.

A lot more.

Foul trouble kept him on the bench for a long stretch in the first half. That’s happened too many times this season.

Still, he is beginning to use his quickness and strength to get into the lane, and did again several times in the second half, either dropping passes for layups or pulling up for short runners.

At one point, he took the ball as he was running full speed toward the baseline, angling into the rim. He caught the pass, gathered himself and came almost to a full stop without traveling, then rocketed up and released a soft, off-handed floater from eight feet.

It is the kind of play that tantalizes and exasperates his coaches, because they know he is capable of this kind of display more often than he shows.

Henry, a sophomore, struggled early in the season navigating his new, larger role, and the NBA chatter surrounding his late-spring ascension last year. He has felt the pressure.

The last few games he has looked more relaxed, and that’s a start. He’s also picked up his defense, as he did in the second half against Simpson.

Rocket Watts, meanwhile, needs to get healthy — a stress reaction in his lower left leg forced him to miss four games.

He returned to the floor last week against Illinois and showed that quick first step on his way to several floaters. Watts, a freshman, only took two shots against U-M before the game got out of hand. But he made two threes late, the second after a nifty step-back move.

Yet he helped run the point some to give Winston a chance to play off the ball, and he did a solid job staying in front of Simpson in the second half.

On nights when Winston and Tillman aren’t as efficient — and there will be those nights ahead — the make-up points need to come from Henry and Watts and even Gabe Brown, who is shooting the ball better lately.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.