As March approaches, the Michigan State men's basketball team is on pace for what will likely be its 25th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Tom Izzo.

A disheartening loss at Iowa dampers what would have been an impressive monthlong stretch for MSU, but that's just how life has been in the Big Ten this season. Still, the Spartans have two more games remaining in conference play to cap the regular season on a high note before things really get heated in postseason play.

Now, let's assess how some players are trending heading into the big month.

Trending up: Joey Hauser

Michigan State graduate senior forward Joey Hauser’s time with the Spartans as a whole has been somewhat of an upward climb. Following a rocky start to his tenure where it took time to build confidence, Hauser has found his stride during the 2022-2023 campaign, and has been exactly the player most thought he would be when he initially transferred from Marquette. Essentially, each time Hauser puts a shot up, fans now expect it to drop.

While his style of play will never wow anyone, Hauser has been the most consistent player for the Spartans over the last five games. The senior has averaged 18 points and 5.4 rebounds per game over that stretch, while shooting 56% from 3-point range. His size and scoring versatility has given him an edge this season, but the separator has been his ability to simply make jump shots at a higher rate, and in clutch moments.

A confident Hauser will be an essential part of the Spartans' success heading into March. In MSU's first round game in last season's NCAA Tournament versus Davidson, Hauser had 27 points and was the catalyst in the narrow victory. Seniors are always relied upon to step up for Tom Izzo’s teams and that will be no different this year as the Spartans look to make a run in the tournament.

Hauser is averaging 13.9 points (second on the team) and 7.0 rebounds (leads the team) per game this season. The confidence meter is high on Hauser as of today.

Trending up: Tyson Walker

While Hauser has arguably been the most consistent player for MSU this season, Tyson Walker has the ability to carry a team through a tournament run. Since February began, the senior guard has taken another step as a primary scorer, averaging 17.3 points per game on 54.7% shooting with high volume.

In his last two games versus Indiana and at Iowa, Walker averaged 27 points per game on 70 percent shooting from 3-point range in those contests. The remarkable part of his recent stretch has been the degree of difficulty with the shots he is making. Oftentimes, he is matched up against bigger guards, but uses his quickness and handle to create separation. Against Indiana, MSU was completely flat offensively for most of the first half until Walker drilled several 3-pointers from NBA range that single-handedly sparked what may have been the best 30-minute stretch of the season for the Spartans.

With all due respect to junior point guard A.J. Hoggard, there’s no one you would rather have the ball in critical moments moving forward for MSU than Walker. He’s proved it time and time again that he is built for the big moment, and Izzo needs to continue creating opportunities for him.

Flat Trend: Malik Hall

The senior forward has had somewhat of an awkward year to this point, missing spurts of time with injuries and taking on more of a sixth-man role in place of sophomore guard/wing Jaden Akins after beginning the season as a starter.

Still, Hall provides a little bit of everything for this team, and plays an important role defensively for a team that lacks size. He just needs to find the consistency to do it every game, and if he does, MSU could be a dangerous team in the tournament.

Hall just hit his season-high in conference play against Iowa of just 16 points, so fans really haven’t seen the scoring outburst from him to this point that he’s shown in flashes in prior seasons, although scoring a lot of points has never really been his true value.

Still, since February began, he’s been a steady presence off the bench and has averaged 13.3 points over the last three games. In the 84-72 loss to Michigan on Feb. 18, Hall had a couple of highlight-reel dunks that makes you forget he had any sort of foot injury this year.

A healthy, productive and versatile Hall is another key to March success for the Spartans. The team has shown it can have success without Hall putting up big numbers, but he'll be relied upon to show a little bit more moving forward.

Sliding: Mady Sissoko

Aside from the occasional alley-oop finish and ferocious block that reminds us of his freakish athleticism, Sissoko has not made the jump MSU has needed from him to this point.

In the month of February alone, the junior center had more personal fouls (20) than points (19). He'll never be relied upon to be a high-end offensive player, and he does a lot of things that don't show up in the box score, but Sissoko really hasn’t stepped up as a rim protector the way the Spartans have needed either. In six games last month, he had just three total blocks and struggled against the likes of Hunter Dickinson and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

For a kid who didn’t even truly begin playing competitive basketball until high school —moving from Mali, West Africa to the United States as a teenager — he was always going to take some time for Sissoko to adjust to the gauntlet of Big Ten basketball. He’s just a junior and still has time to maximize himself in East Lansing, but freshmen Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper both have shown they can provide serviceable minutes at center.

The Spartans also bring in five-star big man Xavier Booker, the No. 9 overall player in the 2023 class, next season. While Booker could see the majority of his minutes at power forward, it is is possible he could play the center position as well.

A productive March would be huge for Sissoko, but as it stands today, there are lingering questions. His best games of the year did come against Gonzaga, ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time, and in Champions Classic against "blue-blood," Kentucky (ranked No. 4 at the time), so maybe he’s saving it for the big stage. Sissoko has the tools to be successful.