Michigan State basketball: Despite meltdown, Tyson Walker was unreal vs. Iowa

The meltdown of the year award goes to Michigan State basketball. The Spartans fumbled away a 13-point lead with 1:30 left and a 10-point lead with 40 seconds remaining.

But we’re not here to dwell on that. I’ve already addressed the embarrassing loss to Iowa here if you want to read me going off on a tangent about Izzo’s horrible defeat. We’re actually here to praise one of the Spartans’ best players in the losing effort: Tyson Walker.

For a second straight game, Walker went absolutely nuclear.

Walker scored 31 points on 11-for-15 shooting and he made 2-of-3 from deep. He was the offensive threat that the Spartans needed down the stretch to extend the lead to double digits but it’s just unfortunate that he wasn’t a big part of the plans in overtime because he was playing out of his mind for a second straight game.

Against Indiana earlier this week, Walker scored 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting. So over the past two games, he’s 19-for-30 from the floor, 7-for-11 from deep, and he’s averaging 27 points per game.

He deserves his props.

Tyson Walker’s return to Michigan State basketball would be elite

It’s hard to think about anything other than this loss to Iowa right now, but looking at the future, if Walker decides to use his COVID-19 year and comes back in 2023-24, Michigan State would be one of the most complete teams in the country.

Walker would return to a lineup with AJ Hoggard, Jaden Akins, Xavier Booker, and Jaxon Kohler. If Malik Hall or Joey Hauser decide to return, too, that would just make the Spartans even deeper.

But as we saw on Saturday afternoon, Walker can score in bunches and really force teams to double him which will just leave someone else open.

I doubt it happens, but if Walker returns, next year’s Michigan State team will be elite.