Michigan State basketball: Good, great, bad, and ugly from Hillsdale win

Great: Sophomore improvements

The storylines from the offseason were mostly surrounding the veterans — AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker, Jaden Akins — and how they were all coming back to take MSU to the promised land. If it wasn’t the veterans being talked about, it was the excellent incoming freshman class. How would adding Xavier Booker, Jeremy Fears, and Gehrig Normand work into the rotation? Wednesday night proved that more emphasis should have been on the sophomores and their offseason improvements. Tre Holloman and Carson Cooper looked great against Hillsdale and deserve attention. 

Tre Holloman was written off as the third point guard by most fans, behind Hoggard and Fears. Myself included. Clearly Holloman put his head down and got to work. He looked calm and in control last night, leading the second shift. Tre finished with nine points on an impressive 4-5 shooting. Izzo had nothing but great things to say of his sophomore point guard after the game.

The other sophomore who looked great was Cooper. Going into the season, there was uncertainty on how the backup center position would play out. I think, if we look back at the end of the season, the Jaxon Kohler injury may end up being a blessing in disguise. With Kohler out, Cooper used his time backing up Sissoko to prove that he, too, has spent the offseason improving. Finished tied for team highs in both scoring and rebounding with 13 and 7, Cooper had great footwork throughout the game to go along with an excellent soft touch around the rim.

The sophomore class’ performance was extremely encouraging on Wednesday night.