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

Great: Malik Hall and A.J Hoggard

Fans so far, myself included, have been hard on Malik Hall and A.J. Hoggard. And rightfully so. Both guys are seniors with 222 games played for the Green and White. Yet, this year, both starters have hurt Michigan State basketball much more than they have helped. That was not the case on Friday evening, however. 

Hall seemed to have figured out his offensive rhythm after having multiple games, even going back to last year, in which he looked lost. Right out of the gate, Hall was both attacking the basket and letting it fly from the field. While he didn’t connect on his lone 3-point attempt, his offense looked good otherwise. Even fighting through an ankle injury at one point, Malik gave it his all against Butler and it showed.

Hoggard has arguably been even more frustrating than Hall this season. A.J., himself, told Izzo, “‘I gotta step up’ or ‘you should bench me.’”

The veteran point guard is struggling mightily from deep and didn’t seem to have the ability to attack the basket or post up. He did both extremely successfully last season. On Friday, Hoggard still didn’t look great from three, although he did knock down his first of the year. But, rather than check out of the game as he had in other games this season, Hoggard began attacking the defense and used his big body to post up smaller guards. This is where Hoggard excelled last season, and it was great to see him go back to it on Friday night.

A.J. finished the night with 14 points, four assists, and six rebounds, and went 3-for-4 from the line. He was a great sidekick to MSU’s leading scorer, Tyson Walker, and as a result, Michigan State was in control the entire game. Keep it up, Hoggard.