Michigan State basketball: 5 bold predictions for December 2022

The 2022-23 Michigan State basketball season has gotten off to a decent start even if the record doesn’t relay that message.

Michigan State began the year with a win over Northern Arizona before taking Gonzaga down to the wire. The Spartans then lost by one to Gonzaga after leading by 12, beat Kentucky in the Champions Classic, and took down Villanova at home before losing to Alabama, beating Oregon, and avoiding an upset against Portland in the PKI.

And I think there was a Big Ten-ACC Challenge game but we won’t talk about that. It was ugly.

Now the Spartans enter the month of December with a 5-3 record and are currently ranked No. 20, but they’ll likely drop out of the rankings after the Notre Dame loss.

December is a good opportunity to get hot, though. So let’s get bold.

5. AJ Hoggard cuts his turnovers in half

A year ago, AJ Hoggard had the best assist rate in the nation and he cut his turnovers down in the second half of the season exponentially. We need to see more of that second part.

Through eight games, Hoggard is averaging an eye-popping 3.8 turnovers per game which is simply not going to cut it if he’s going to live up to his potential and put this team on his shoulders. He needs to be averaging somewhere around two per game.

In December, he’ll cut his turnovers in half and be around two or just under that to head into the meat of Big Ten play with some momentum.

Michigan State needs him to make smarter decisions and he’ll do just that.