Michigan State basketball’s depth will be tested big-time vs. Alabama

If you were up late on Wednesday night (or early Thursday morning), you were unfortunate enough to see some bad news break for Michigan State basketball.

The Spartans were already worried about Jaden Akins’ health earlier in the week after tweaking his foot against Villanova but his x-rays were negative. But now another player has suffered an injury and will miss some time.

That player is Malik Hall who actually had a foot injury in the preseason and missed some practice time because of it.

Apparently, he has injured his foot again and will be out for the PK85 on Thursday night and could miss a couple of weeks, according to Brendan Quinn.

This is an extremely tough blow to a team that was already lacking depth this season. The Spartans entered the year with 10 scholarship players and with Hall out, that number shrinks to nine. If Akins is also out, Michigan State will be at eight scholarship players and that could force a guy like Jason Whitens into action.

Michigan State basketball depth will get a huge test

Alright, we already know that depth is lacking, but the three guys off the bench (Tre Holloman, Jaxon Kohler, and Carson Cooper) will have an opportunity to earn some extra time.

We could see the five Spartan starters player 30-plus minutes each because of the injuries to Hall and Akins which could cause some serious fatigue in a weekend tournament.

Not only will the depth be tested, but the team will have a tournament-like road to the PK85 title game and if the Spartans can win a game or two this weekend, that would be huge for the confidence moving forward. It’s not going to be easy without two key players potentially.