Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from ugly Senior Night win over Northwestern

Michigan State basketball found a way on Senior Night. The Spartans prevailed on the efforts of seniors Tyson Walker and Malik Hall.

Michigan State basketball was at the Breslin Center for the last home game of the year on March 6. On the sixth of the month, six Spartans played in their (likely) final game in the friendly confines of the Breslin. Mady Sissoko, Malik Hall, AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker, Davis Smith, and Steven Izzo said goodbye to nearly 15,000 on a Wednesday night.

Despite this being a Senior Night, it also came with some dread: the pesky Northwestern Wildcats and senior Boo Buie played in the Breslin Center for the last time this season as well. Buie has been a “Spartan killer” in the past, willing his Wildcat teams to victories at home or away. Both teams entered with a lot to play for, trying to improve their seeding for the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament after.

In a contest that was much more misses and errors than good basketball, the Spartans won 53-49. This game got a solid “F” in offense, execution, refereeing, and urgency, but Michigan State basketball won.

I won’t say the Spartans are so back, yet. However, here is what I learned.

1. The first half was painful to watch

At the start of the game, there was no urgency from either team. Tyson Walker had a quick four points, and Boo Buie drilled a long three out of the first media timeout, but neither team could score it appeared. In the next stint, next to nothing happened. Buie added a three, and MSU continued to go scoreless. The Spartans had nine points in the first 13:02 of game action.

In the proceeding 4:55, the Spartans erased their deficit, scoring 10 points to trail by just a point. This stretch included Tre Holloman drilling two from beyond the arc. Then, it was back to earth. Michigan State scored one point in the last 3:03 of the first half. Senior AJ Hoggard was held out of the scoring column in the first half of his (alleged) final home game.

It is not like Northwestern had a pretty half either. Despite the Spartan cold stretches where they would go three or more minutes with a single point or less, the Wildcats led by five at the half. They put up 25, and could not draw a whistle to save their lives. The Wildcats only attempted a single free throw the entire opening half. They had zero bench points for the half and only four in the paint. They had nearly as many fouls (eight) as buckets (10).

At one point, I looked around the media section and called this disgusting basketball. Neither team could score, the referees could not call a foul, and the fans were spectating multiple minutes of wind sprints.

The Spartans were an appalling 7-for-32 in first-half shooting. Their 20 points in the first half tied a season low.

2. Malik Hall had himself a whale of a senior night

Out of the half, the Spartans needed to turn things around quickly. Malik Hall took that upon himself to give Michigan State basketball its first lead since 1-0. He added three quick rebounds after the Spartans forced a Wildcat timeout, and he was at a double-double before the first media timeout of the half. Hall had a career-high 17 rebounds for the Spartans as he refused to let this Northwestern game go anything like his last contest against the Wildcats.

In his post-game interview, Hall addressed this, saying his last outing against Northwestern gave him more fuel and motivation for his Senior Night. After doing little more than wind sprints in his first outing, Hall stuffed the box score with 15 points, 17 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks — from a traditional four, that’s a monster game. Hall also trooped through almost the whole game without a break, including playing the entire second half.

When asked about this, Tom Izzo said “Some of my staff said we needed to take him out, but I said ‘over my dead body.’”

Hall was the most dynamic player on the court on Wednesday night.

Despite his whale of a night, Hall elected to not go out for a ceremony to end the game. While it was a readily available option, Hall said that he had his ceremony last year and was not an “attention guy.” From what was said, it is believed that Hall quietly went back out and kissed the Spartan logo one last time, away from prying eyes. His effort, especially in the second half of the year, leaves a huge hole in the roster once this team’s tournament run is over.

3. This team rallied and found a way

This was not a pretty win or even a pretty game. At points, it was ugly basketball.

Only five Spartans scored, with only one point coming from the quartet of centers. In his post-game press conference, Izzo compared this game to a root canal and said it probably felt like a four-hour game to fans. Despite the atrocious start to the game, this team found a way to win. Hoggard sparked the team from the second his final half in the Breslin started, scoring all six of his points in the final 20 minutes. Hall scored six points straight to give the Spartans their first lead since 1-0 and force a Chris Collins timeout.

This game was scored as the worst offensive game of the season for Michigan State basketball, but it secured a victory. The teams finished with a combined 104 points. The Spartans nearly doubled their field goal percentage from the first half in the final half and turned a five-point deficit into a four-point win. This is the fight that the team needed in their prior home losses to Ohio State and Iowa. Whether it was the magic (and motivation) of Senior Night or luck, the Spartans found a way.

Tyson Walker came up big at the end, and his 17th point of his team-leading 19 tonight gave him 2,000 career points.

After the teams we have watched the past few years, many fans assumed the worst heading into the final 10 seconds. Northwestern had the ball down two, and it appeared imminent that Boo Buie was going to break our hearts in his final game in the Breslin Center. Somehow, some way, this MSU team flipped the script. The only drawback of this ugly victory is that we could not see each senior Spartan kiss the court when they were substituted out for the last time. After years of seeing Steven Izzo be the last substitution to send a graduate out, it hurt to not see the team rally to enough of a lead and return the favor for the lovable guard.

While not pretty, Michigan State basketball does not need pretty wins at this point. They need wins to cement their place in the tournament and to build momentum. I started this by saying all the categories that got an “F”. However, rebounding (MSU finished plus-11 over the ‘Cats on the boards) and defense both get at least a “B+”, bordering on an “A-“ in the win. Turns out, executing those two aspects of the game makes wins, particularly ugly ones, much more likely. The more you know.

A win is a win, even if only five players score and players not named Holloman go 0-for-11 from beyond the arc. Even if Walker finished with 19 points on 21 shots (25 if you include his free throws as shots), a win counts the same.

Izzo joked in the post-game press conference, “We sure as hell can’t shoot here, but we can throw a Senior Night.”

The Spartans have a quick turnaround. They head out to face Indiana in their last regular-season contest on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET.