Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from win over Northern Arizona

1. Michigan State basketball goes how the guards go

One thing is obvious through the first 40 minutes of the season: this team is going to go as the guard play goes.

The big men played well, as previously mentioned, but the offense really stalled out with AJ Hoggard on the bench. And with Tyson Walker struggling to find his shot, there was just nothing going for the Spartans near the end of the first half. If those two guys struggle on offense, Michigan State is going to have a tough time scoring.

We did see an aggressive Joey Hauser, Pierre Brooks, and Jaden Akins who made up for the struggling guards (one wasn’t hitting shots and the other was in foul trouble).

When Hoggard was in the game, the offense ran so much smoother outside of a couple of poor turnovers. He just has great vision and takes advantage of even the slightest opening in the lane. And Walker started to make some drives to the hoop late in the game when he realized his shot just wasn’t dropping.

This team is going to go as far as these guards take it.