Finally.

The real Aaron Henry showed up on Saturday night in Lincoln, Neb., or what we think will be the real Aaron Henry going forward.

The Aaron Henry that his coach, a concerned fanbase and a skeptical media throng had been waiting for.

Henry, who changed his number, became a team captain and entered the season as a junior, was expected to meet some big expectations coming into a season in which the Spartans had lost the services of dependable standout starters Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman.

And early on, those expectations seemed to be holding Henry down as he entered Saturday night’s meeting with the Huskers as one of the leaders of a Spartan team that was 0-3 in the Big Ten and averaging 13.2 turnovers a game.

Henry, who was expected to put his offensive stamp on this team after deciding to forgo an early departure for the NBA, entered Saturday night averaging a modest 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds a game.

Not bad numbers but not the kind of numbers that define a player or a team expected to be in the mix for a fourth straight Big Ten title.

Henry served notice on Saturday night in Pinnacle Bank Arena that he and MSU were still in the mix with a career-high 27 points - which included equaling a career-high with three 3-pointers - as the Spartans jolted a conference season, seemingly on life support, with an 84-77 victory.

The difference?

“Just the drive to win,’’ Henry said. “Starting 0-3 in the Big Ten and my drive to win and Coach Izzo holding me to that standard. Nothing different.’’

Prior to his 27-point outburst at Nebraska, Henry had not scored more than 15 points this season and in many of his outings his point production looked like a struggle.

None of those struggles were apparent on Saturday night.

While the Spartans (7-3, 1-3 Big Ten) avoided opening the conference schedule with four straight losses for the first time ever under Izzo’s guidance, it was Henry’s performance which caught everyone’s eye, as he went for 17 points in the first half, en route to a 10-for-16 performance and an exhibition of leadership that really hasn’t been on display all season.

“It was just a small piece of the puzzle. I may have scored more than other nights and had one of my better nights but I’m a team guy,’’ Henry said. “The focus today was just to get a win, anything we could do to get a win. Anybody that comes to Michigan State, that’s the standard we’re held to.

“I set a career-high for myself and yeah that’s fine and dandy but I want to win. That’s all I care about.’’

A 6-foot-6 swingman, Henry hit from long distance, displayed a smooth and comfortable jumper and sliced to the basket for layups with an ease that has been hidden through the Spartans’ first nine games, during which Henry had turned the ball over 28 times.

There were none of those problems on Saturday night as Henry also finished with four rebounds, a steal, an assist and a block against just two turnovers and one personal foul.

While the 27 points were significant in contributing to the win, it was Henry’s overall presence that caught the eye of his teammates and his head coach.

“He was a man tonight and that’s the way Aaron has got to play,’’ Izzo said. “I’m really impressed how he played but I’m not really surprised how he played. I think that’s what he can do. I’m not saying he’ll get 27 every night but I think he can hit a couple 3s, I think he can get open in that break, I think he can drive it. I just like the way he showed total versatility. He guarded bigs, he guarded point guards, he drove the ball, he posted up, and he hit 3s. That’s the versatility I think Aaron Henry has and we haven’t seen that enough.”

It’s also a performance that graduate senior guard Josh Langford expects to repeat going forward, as the Spartans face both Rutgers and Purdue at home on Tuesday and Friday.

“Obviously, you’ve seen what he’s capable of (Saturday) night and that’s kind of what we’ve been emphasizing with him,’’ said Langford, who added 15 on 5-of-12 shooting. “Just kind of giving him that confidence and encouraging him, ‘Hey man, you’re a great player and you can do the things that can really give us a great lift.’”

Even Henry’s missed fastbreak dunk midway through the first half served as inspiration. It was a missed dunk, but he went for it with fast full force.

“He kind of got hung on that one dunk in the first half and I kind of just told him, keep being aggressive because that’s what we need,” Langford said. “It didn’t matter the fact that he got hung, I was just excited that he was being aggressive and that’s what we need out of him because that’s the type of player that he is and that’s the type of influence he can have on the team and just on the game.’’

As for the doubters who think his performance against Nebraska was just a flash in the pan, a defiant Henry had an answer.

“I’m going to keep trying to win and keep fighting. They can say what they want,’’ Henry said. “I’m me. I’ll always be me, I don’t care what nobody says. I’m the only one that wakes up with me. I don’t care what nobody think.”