Tyson Walker is showing his dominance against Quad 1 opponents

Tyson Walker has been great for Michigan State this season and his dominance has been especially evident against Quad 1 opponents.

Tyson Walker has had an excellent start to his season this year.

On the year, Walker is averaging 20.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. These numbers are very impressive, but what’s even more impressive is how Tyson is doing against the better teams Michigan State basketball has faced this season.

Tyson Walker shows up when it matters most

Showing up against the best teams in the country is what separates a good player from a great player. Any good player can score a lot against bad teams, and the really good players still perform well against good opponents. Tyson, however, is one of the great players who elevates his game against good opponents.

Walker is averaging 23.2 points per game against Quad 1 opponents this year. That total is a whopping three points higher than his season average. A Quad 1 opponent is defined based on your opponent’s NET ranking. A top-30 NET ranking for your opponent is a Quad 1 game as a home game, top 50 ranking for a neutral site game and top 75 for a road game.

Tyson’s 23.2 points per game against Quad 1 opponents is sixth best in the country. He is also shooting an efficient 46.2% from the field in these games as well, which is only 1.7% less than his season average (47.9%).

A few other Big Ten players are performing well against Quad 1 opponents as well this season. Purdue’s Zach Edey is No. 1 in the country at 28 points per game and Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. is fourth best at 24.8.

Here are the top 20 players in points per game against Quad 1 opponents.

The leading scorers in college basketball against Quad 1 opponents (min. 3 GP): pic.twitter.com/A7vin9ylxx

— CBB Analytics (@CBBAnalytics) December 21, 2023

Can Tyson keep this up?

If MSU is going to have the season we all are expecting, Tyson will have to keep this production up against the good teams. And I have no doubt that he will. Tyson has shown countless times that he can show up in big games and lead our team to victory. He demonstrated that in our most recent Quad 1 win over Baylor when he scored 25 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range.

MSU has many other guys who can score a lot against good teams, but Tyson is easily the most reliable. Everyone else on our team has bad games from time to time, but Tyson doesn’t usually have those bad games. Tyson’s lowest scoring production this season has been 13 and 14 points against Georgia Southern and Southern Indiana, respectively. Those were two blowout wins where his greatness wasn’t needed, so those lower outputs don’t concern me. His lowest total against a Quad 1 opponent this year came against Nebraska where he still scored 17 points. Hardly a bad game if you ask me.

Michigan State will have a lot of Quad 1 opportunities once Big Ten play resumes. But they surprisingly have one more before Big Ten play starts back up against Indiana State. The Sycamores are a much better team than people realize and are No. 19 in the current NET rankings. If I know anything about Tyson Walker, he will undoubtedly show up in a big way that game and lead our team to another victory.