Michigan State Basketball: Good, great, bad, and ugly from win over Southern Indiana

Bad: Point guard play

The eye test will tell you A.J. Hoggard had a decent game, but the stat sheet will prove otherwise. He finished with just four points and four assists, to go along with three turnovers. In years past, Hoggard has had great games both creating for his teammates, finishing with seven or eight assists, or scoring himself. Thursday night, Hoggard didn’t quite do either. Four assists is not terrible, it’s above his season average of 3.5, but against a team like Southern Indiana when your Spartans score 74, Hoggard should have had 1.5x that. 

When it comes to scoring for himself, Hoggard was disappointing as well. He finished with just four points. As was the case for the entire team, Hoggard’s 3-point shot was not falling. But, unlike his fellow starters, that essentially spelled the end of his offensive night. Hoggard is a big-bodied point guard who is great at getting to the basket. While his finishing skills are above average, this is usually where he can rack up the free throw shots and put the other team in foul trouble. A.J. finished Thursday night without having a free throw appearance. As I’ll mention in the next section, if the three is not falling, driving and getting to the basket is your next best option. An option that A.J. decided to not take against Southern Indiana. 

There has been plenty of back and forth regarding Hoggard’s body language issues in the past. He even received a benching last season in an attempt to light a fire under him. Izzo sent a message that seemed to work. After Monday night’s performance, followed up by this, I think a message has to be sent in one way or another. Tre Holloman, on the other hand, has looked better than expected. He has even hit one of the Spartans’ only 3-pointers. Maybe more of a timeshare is in store until Hoggard can take his senior season by the horns and be the player Michigan State basketball needs him to be.