Michigan State basketball: AJ Hoggard says Illinois game is “must-win”

AJ Hoggard is feeling a sense of urgency for Michigan State basketball as it travels to Illinois on Thursday.

Michigan State basketball suffered a shocking loss to Northwestern 88-74 on Sunday night. It’s not that losing this game is a huge surprise, it’s the manner that it was done. Northwestern looked like the far better team all night and MSU looked like it didn’t want to be there.

After the loss, AJ Hoggard was in his post-game press conference already talking about our next game. On Thursday night, the Spartans travel to Illinois to take on a highly-ranked Illinois team in a very important matchup.

When talking about this upcoming game, Hoggard shared that, “It’s a must-win. There’s no other way around it, there’s no sugarcoating that.”

Is Hoggard right? Is this Illinois game a must win? Let’s discuss.

Is Illinois a must win?

I think the answer to this question is yes and no and just depends on how you look at it. When looking at one of Michigan State’s goals though it most certainly is a must-win.

One goal for this Michigan State team was to win a Big Ten title. The Spartans are now 1-3 in conference play after the loss to Northwestern, so this goal is already looking out of reach. So if they still want to win the Big Ten, this game is definitely a must-win.

This is also a must-win for a few other minor reasons. The Spartans haven’t won a game outside of the state of Michigan all season. So turning the tide and proving we can win away from home is huge for the team’s confidence. MSU also only has one ranked win on the season against Baylor, so winning this game adds to the resume.

But when you look at our NCAA Tournament hopes, no, this game is not a must-win. In ESPN’s latest Bracketology from Jan. 5, the Spartans were in the tournament field as a 7-seed. Losing to Northwestern won’t drop them out of the tournament field and neither would losing to Illinois. It might put them close to the bubble, but the Spartans would still be comfortably in.

Even if that side of it is true, I still lean towards this game being a must-win. This is Michigan State where you expect to win Big Ten titles. You expect to beat really good teams even in the road. Falling to 1-4 in conference play essentially eliminates any chance of winning the conference. So even though their NCAA Tournament hopes aren’t on the line, I think I side with AJ that Thursday night is a must-win game.