Michigan State basketball: Tyson Walker makes mid-season Jerry West Award top 10

It's been quite the senior season for Tyson Walker. The Michigan State basketball star had been averaging 20-plus points per game for most of the season until the past couple of weeks, but he's still one of the best players the sport has to offer.

Walker is still getting national recognition despite struggling in recent weeks.

While he's one of the best players in the Big Ten and gets treated as such, he's also one of the brightest stars in college basketball and the Jerry West Award recognizes that.

In fact, he was named to the mid-season top 10 list for the Jerry West Award this week which is given annually to the nation's best shooting guard.

There's still a long way to go in the season so his inclusion on this list isn't guaranteed to make him a finalist when it's all said and done, but if he gets back on track here in February, he's going to make a strong push for the award.

On the season, Walker is averaging 18.9 points, 3.1 assists, and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the floor and 38 percent from deep. He needs to improve on that 3-point shooting number as it has been dipping drastically in recent weeks. He's actually 8-for-28 in the past six games from long-range which isn't quite like him.

Walker has also shot under 50 percent from the floor in five of the past six games and under 40 percent in four of them. He needs to get that mojo back.

Hopefully that happens on Saturday against Maryland.