Michigan State basketball: 3 quick thoughts from huge win at Wisconsin

Michigan State basketball picked up a huge win at Wisconsin on Tuesday night, overcoming some hot Badger shooting.

Down 59-54 with a few minutes left, Michigan State basketball needed an answer out of the under-four timeout. The Spartans got it in the form of AJ Hoggard who took over and led them to a 69-65 win over No. 18 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center.

The veterans came up clutch for the Spartans against the 18th-ranked Badgers and Tom Izzo has to be proud of this team for not giving up when things were looking grim late.

Here are a few of my thoughts from the huge Michigan State basketball road win.

1. AJ Hoggard is the epitome of clutch

Down the stretch, Michigan State needed someone to step up and lead the comeback against a tough Wisconsin team. The Badgers seemed to have an answer for everything the Spartans did and then Hoggard clamped down after a tough 1-for-6 start to the game, going 2-for-2 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line down the stretch with six points.

Hoggard has grown into a big-time leader for the Spartans and that was evident in the huddle near the end of the game with Mady Sissoko getting heated as he was able to calm him down.

We’re seeing him grow into one of the best guards in the Big Ten before our eyes.

2. Turnovers nearly burned the MSU

It’s been wild to say, but Michigan State hasn’t been burned by turnovers much, if at all, this season. They’ve actually cleaned things up quite a bit this season and we haven’t had to worry about turnovers much.

Until Tuesday night.

The Spartans turned the ball over 14 times and Wisconsin scored nearly 30 points off those miscues while Michigan State had less than 10 points off just five Badger turnovers.

It’s nice to see this team can win despite having turnover issues, but let’s all agree to avoid these in the future. Deal?

3. This team has that dawg in them

Last year or the year before, we may not have seen Michigan State win a game like this. There just weren’t the leaders to step up down the stretch when the game looked like it might be lost, but what a difference a year makes.

Hoggard, Joey Hauser, Tyson Walker, and Malik Hall all stepped up down the stretch and made massive plays to ensure the Spartans went home with a big road win.

You have to give it up to this team because these guys have that dawg in them.