Michigan State basketball: 5 things I’d like to see vs. Ohio State on Senior Day

At roughly 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, this roller-coaster of a regular season will come to a close for your Michigan State basketball team.

Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell has made a ton of questionable decisions in his life, but when he wrote, “The years start coming and they don’t stop coming.” I felt that. Can you believe it was almost four months since Mady Sissoko had 14 points and nine rebounds against the then-No. 2 and now-No. 10 team in the country?

Funny how just four months can take three years off my lifespan.

But as the season winds down, here are the five things I want to see in the Spartans’ regular-season finale against Ohio State.

5. Malik Hall getting four assists

Malik Hall is a curious case. I truly believe he has most of the tools to be a Big Ten Player of the Year candidate. He can shoot outside (40 percent from deep), make free throws (89 percent), grab a few rebounds, and has decent handles for a 6-foot-8 small forward from Aurora, Ill. (which is a suburb of Chicago. Excellent.).

The area I would love to see him improve is his assist-to-turnover ratio. While near 1-to-1 isn’t terrible, it’s a symptom of a bigger issue. Too many times, I see Hall drive to the hoop and stop at any sign of post defense, then a lot of pivoting, and either a low-percentage two-point shot (making less than 50 percent of those shots), a travel or intercepted pass, and every now and then, a kick-out pass.

If he can limit the turnovers to two, while getting four assists against Ohio State, I think this team improves dramatically with how scorching hot our outside shooting has been lately.