Tyson Walker had 30 points and the ball in his hands on the final possession of the game, but his floater hit back iron and Indiana came out with the loose ball to beat the Spartans, 65-64, this afternoon in Bloomington.
After scoring just 53 total points at home in a win Wednesday against Northwestern, MSU was a mess on the offensive end of the floor outside of Walker in this loss to the Hoosiers. Michigan State struggled mightily out of the gate, missing their first five shot attempts and falling behind 12-3 in the first five minutes of action, forcing head coach Tom Izzo called an early timeout. That stoppage did nothing to get the Spartans going however, as MSU shot just 3-for-20 from the floor to start the game. Indiana increased its lead to 24-7 with nine minutes left in the first half.
The Spartans finally broke through offensively thanks to Walker and an increased intensity on defense. Michigan State forced Indiana into nine turnovers over the final 12-plus minutes of the half, and started chipping away at their deficit. Walker had 10 first-half points, while Malik Hall and A.J. Hoggard added some big buckets to end the half. The Spartans closed the first frame with a 22-10 run to trail by only five, 34-29, at the break.
Michigan State carried that momentum into the second half, outscoring the Hoosiers 14-2 to start the frame and take a 43-36 lead. The turnaround came with the Spartans' willingness to let it fly from deep, as they hit four 3-pointers in the first four minutes after halftime, but that hot start to the frame didn't last. Trailing 55-48, Indiana went on a 8-0 run to retake the lead, 56-55, with just under seven minutes left in the game. It was a back-and-forth dogfight from there, but the Hoosiers made one more play than the Spartans down the stretch to send Michigan State home with the loss. Here are five takeaways from the game...
1.) A heroic effort from Tyson Walker
Michigan State's leading scorer has battled through a tough couple weeks lately, but we got an early-season performance out of Tyson Walker today. The Jerry West Award finalist was unguardable late in the first half and into the second, as he put on his best offensive performance since scoring 35 in the season-opener against James madison.
Walker finished with 30 points and did so efficiently, shooting 11-of-21 from the floor and 4-for-8 from long range. Walker added three steals, three assists and a pair of rebounds in 37 minutes played. It's unfortunate that Michigan State wasn't able to come away with the victory with how good Walker was today. The Spartans can't rely on the fifth-year senior that heavily on offense, but it was good to see Walker break through with a huge game before tournament play.
2.) A.J. Hoggard mostly played well
Expectations are high for whoever starts at point guard for Michigan State, and we've been tough on A.J. Hoggard throughout the season for his inconsistent play. Today, however, we got a mostly positive performance out of the senior.
Hoggard was easily Michigan State's second-best player, as he totaled 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and knocked down two of his three 3-point attempts. The senior added six assists, four rebounds and four steals, while committing only one turnover. He had a few defensive breakdowns but, overall, it was a solid performance from Hoggard. If Michigan State can get that level of play from its point guard, they'll take it.
Unfortunately, Walker and Hoggard didn't get enough help from their compatriots, as the rest of Michigan State's roster shot just 10-of-35 (28.6%) from the floor and 2-of-14 (14.3%) from 3-point range in the defeat.
3.) Jaden Akins looks lost
The junior had a nice start to the second half, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to help Michigan State take their first lead of the game. Outside of that short stint, however, Jaden Akins looked totally lost in this game. It took 12 shot attempts for Akins to reach 10 points, and his outside jumper has completely vanished. The junior was 2-of-9 from 3-point range today, and Akins has shot just 21.4% (6-for-28) from long range in MSU's past six games.
The only time Akins gets to the rim is when the Spartans are on a fastbreak. In the halfcourt, the junior is limited to just being a spot-up shooter and he's been entirely ineffective at that over most of the past month. Akins did grab five rebounds this afternoon, but he also had four terrible turnovers as well. The regression from Akins' sophomore to junior season is one of the biggest reasons the Spartans have disappointed all season.
4.) MSU's frontcourt totally outmatched by Indiana's
Michigan State started Xavier Booker struggled with the size and physicality of the Hoosier bigs. Booker played just seven minutes and was a non-factor in this one. In the freshman's defense, none of the Spartans' other centers were all that effective either.
Indiana's Ke'lel Ware had his way with all four MSU centers on his way to 28 points and 12 rebounds. His running mate in the frontcourt, Malik Reneau, bullied the Spartans as well for 16 points, five rebounds and five assists. After rotating all four bigs in the first half, Izzo settled on sophomore Jaxon Kohler to start the second half, but he got cooked defensively and on the glass.
Izzo turned to Carson Cooper down the stretch. The seven-foot sophomore was the best rebounder of MSU's bigs, pulling down seven rebounds, but Cooper was a black hole on offense with three points and two turnovers. Meanwhile, Hall also struggled against the size of Indiana, scoring just __ points on __-of-__ shooting. Like Cooper, however, Hall made an impact on the game with his rebounding with __ for MSU.
5.) Do or die time for Michigan State
The Spartans entered this game as a 9-seed in most projections for the NCAA Tournament, and I believe Michigan State will be in the field of 68 regardless of what happens in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. However, that's a small consolation after MSU went 1-4 to finish the regular season and finish 10-10 in Big Ten play.
The fact of the matter is Michigan State has been a mid-tier team in this conference over the past four seasons — a far cry from the standard of this program. This team has shown too much inconsistency to expect much in either the Big Ten or NCAA Tournaments, despite Izzo's reputation as a wizard in March. Maybe the Spartans will prove me wrong this week in Minneapolis and in the Big Dance, but it's hard to expect anything more than an early exit this March.
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