Michigan State basketball: Trio of unheralded players starting to shine
By Carlos Araoz
![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](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/322d8e16fabff898e450cfd85a63034cd9f276fe512f4354e3424eb9bbe70fc5.jpg)
A healthy and productive Joshua Langford
Sunday was arguably Joshua Langford’s best game of the young season. As MSU’s unsung hero, he scored 13 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
Oakland shot the lights out and scored 91 points but Langford was one of the few MSU players that got up into their shooters and is a defender who is rarely out of position. His presence and awareness on the defensive end is a big reason why he is a fixture in the lineup. He is also starting to crash the offensive glass and driving frequently which makes his even more dangerous. He has a silky smooth mid-range jumper, too. His shooting, scoring and leadership make him an outstanding backcourt mate for Rocket Watts.
Langford is still working to knock off the rust caused by missing half of the 2018-19 season and the entire 2019-20 campaign. He was an incredible sidekick to Cassius Winston during the 2017-18 season (on his way to averaging 11.7 points per contest) and was even better the following year through 13 games (on his way to averaging 15 points per game).
During that 48-game stretch spanning his sophomore and junior seasons, he shot over 40 percent from deep. He’s rounding back into form and his resurgence couldn’t have come at a better time.