Michigan State basketball: Stock watch after Michigan win

Michigan State basketball picked up a huge win over Michigan on Tuesday night and here’s what the stock watch looks like.

This game was a story of two halves. In the first half, Michigan State basketball got key performances to keep the Spartans in the game and only down two at the break. In the second half, the team kept making shots and got a better defensive performance causing Michigan to miss shots.

While the first half wasn’t the performance the team wanted, Michigan State got the response it needed in the second half and won by 18. Not only was this another important win this year, it is Izzo’s 700th win on his 69th birthday.

This win was because of key performances from Jaden Akins, AJ Hoggard and the 3-point shooting.

Stock up

• Jaden Akins

This is one of the best performances that Jaden Akins has had at Michigan State. He shot 70 percent on 3-of-10 attempts and scored 23 points. Not only was he shooting well, the team was finding him in key moments. Whenever the momentum was swinging, they found Akins at the corner and he hit the majority of the shots that he needed. Akins not only did it on the offensive end, he was great defensively. He caused havoc and had active hands causing three steals. This is the Akins that fans were hoping to see this year.

• AJ Hoggard

Another really solid performance from AJ Hoggard. He was aggressive attacking the basket and finding the open man. While Hoggard did have two turnovers, he was smart with the ball the majority of the time and if he can continue to attack the basket, it’s going to allow players like Akins, Tre Holloman, and Tyson Walker to get open looks from three.

• 3-point shooting

On Tuesday, the shots were finally falling again. Going 9-for-21 from three is going to really help this team continue to put up quite a few points. If this team can find more consistency from its 3-point shooters, teams are going to have to respect the three, which could open up the lane a little more. This is what Michigan State was able to do towards the end of the game as a majority of the points came from the paint later in the game.

Stock down

• Free throw shooting

Free throws continue to be an issue for this team. One of the main issues is this team isn’t getting to the free throw line enough. Having eight attempts all night is not going to be enough especially if you’re not hitting your shots. While they only got eight attempts, they only made half of them. Tyson did go 1-for-3 from the line, which isn’t usual for him so he should be alright. This team needs to get to the line more often and when they do, they need to make them.

• Rebounds

Rebounding continues to be an issue for this team. They again got out-rebounded and, at times, couldn’t corral the ball. There were a few times that the box-out could have been better especially in the first half but it did slightly improve in the second half.

This was a win that Michigan State basketball really needed to have because it couldn’t afford to lose. While it wasn’t perfect, there were some signs in there that if they can get better and more consistent performances from Akins, maybe this team can reach its potential. The center position will continue to have its nights but on Tuesday, Michigan State got a win over its rival and Izzo’s 700th win.