Michigan State Basketball: 3 quick reactions from crushing loss to Illinois

3. Michigan State lives and dies with the point guards

This Michigan State team is so good when the point guards are scoring but they are so bad when they’re quiet. Case in point, the last eight minutes of the game when Tyson Walker started to heat up from everywhere on the floor.

Early on, the Spartans were getting decent play from AJ Hoggard. He was able to drive into the lane and get some buckets to drop. Hoggard was the one that was keeping them within 10-12 points for much of the first half. Walker was the one that brought them back.

Tom Izzo made a decision to bring both of his ball-handlers at the same time. Give them a smaller lineup and let the point guards dictate the rest of the game. This seemed to work. Walker was able to weave through the screen and hit clean mid-range jumpers. Once he saw the ball through the hoop, he was able to hit some deep shots.

This team has to have a thriving point guard if they have a shot of winning games. Maybe the game plan from here on out is to have both point guards play at the same time and let both of them play off each other.

This is not the only game where the Spartans have come back or won because of the play from the point guards. In their first game of the season against Kansas, the Spartans were in the game because of the resilient play from Hoggard. The Spartans were able to beat Indiana and Wisconsin when Walker and Hoggard were playing good ball.

This team lives and dies by the play of its point guards.