Michigan State Basketball: 3 quick reactions to pathetic loss at Penn St

1. Hoggard injury hurts

AJ Hoggard went down in the second half with a sprained ankle and that really hurt the team. He got the start for the second straight game after a brilliant first start and both point guards thrived. Tyson Walker has not seemed ready for the spotlight in the Big Ten while Hoggard is ready for the chance to be the next great Spartan point guard.

When Hoggard went down, the offense continued to spiral out of control. With under two minutes left, the offense was left up to Walker. It ended with the shot clock violation with Walker holding onto the ball too long and then Malik Hall being shy and not shooting the ball. That play, though, falls on Walker for not getting the offense going quicker.

The next possession, the Spartans were down four with 20 second left.

Walker again held onto the ball too long. The Spartans ended up getting points out of the play but time was against them with Walker chewing up 12 seconds of the already limited clock. I do not know if this would have been different if Hoggard was in but at least when he’s playing the point, there is a sense of urgency there that Walker does not have.

The rest of the season relies on the play of the point guard position. If they are thriving the team will thrive, if they are turning the ball over a ton the team will falter. Tom Izzo’s offenses relies on a confident don’t back down point guard. Hoggard was starting to step into that but with this injury it could set him back and that really hurts.