Michigan State basketball: Trio of unheralded players starting to shine

Michigan State's Gabe Brown celebrates after teammate A.J. Hoggard drew an Oakland foul during the second half on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.201213 Msu Oakland 176a
Michigan State's Gabe Brown celebrates after teammate A.J. Hoggard drew an Oakland foul during the second half on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.201213 Msu Oakland 176a /
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A certain Michigan State basketball trio is getting hot at the perfect time as conference play is getting ready to start this weekend.

Last weekend was an emotional roller coaster ride for Spartan fans everywhere. Just as Michigan State’s football team started out strong in their most recent game before falling apart after halftime as they squandered a golden opportunity to beat Penn State on the road, the Spartan basketball team used a second half surge to put away their latest opponent and secure a win after a sluggish first 20 minutes of play against the always-pesky Golden Grizzlies.

Through a half-dozen games, MSU has come to expect excellent all-around production and terrific man-to-man defense from Aaron Henry, double-doubles from Joey Hauser and offensive firepower from Rocket Watts.

As the Big Ten season is set to begin later this week, there were several encouraging performances against Oakland that if repeated and sustained, could push the Spartans to contend for a conference title and a strong NCAA tournament run come March.

Here are the pleasant holiday surprises we noticed during MSU’s final non-conference tune up that hopefully can continue.