Michigan State entered the Big Ten Tournament somewhere between a No. 10-seed and the bubble, knowing that a win over Minnesota would solidify its spot in the NCAA Tournament field come Selection Sunday.

After a somewhat stressful and frustrating battle with the Golden Gophers on Thursday afternoon, Tom Izzo and the Spartans will get that desperately needed breathing room when it comes to the Big Dance, thanks to a victory over Minnesota, 77-66.

If guards win you games in March, then MSU tried its best to live by that adage.

In fact, 50 of MSU’s 77 points came from the back-court of Tyson Walker, A.J. Hoggard, Jaden Akins and Tre Holloman. Hoggard (6-for-6) and Holloman (3-for-3) were both perfect from the field.

A too familiar 7-0 deficit to start the game left MSU with an uphill battle early.

Freshman big man Xavier Booker spelled the drought with back-to-back dunks, which kicked off a 14-3 run for the Spartans.

The two squads would trade blows for the remainder of the first half, leaving Michigan State railing by two points at the halftime break, 34-32.

Walker Struggled to get quality looks at the basket, going just 2-for-9 from the field in the first half, pacing the game in shot attempts.

Minnesota’s Parker Fox, who averages 4.7 points per gane, attacked the Malik Hall-less Spartans, putting up nine first half points (Hall checked out a the 10-minute mark with two fouls).

MSU’s senior leaders fell short in the first half: Hall with two points, Hoggard had four points, and Walker had four points. Those three players combined to shoot just 4-for-13 from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play.

Michigan State opened the second half with three steals in the early minutes of the stanza, and started to dictate the pace of this game, led by the composure of the Spartans' guards.

Later in he half, Holloman stripped Minnesota's Pharrel Payne and took ball coast to coast, pulling up from the free-throw line for the jumper to give MSU a 52-49 lead with 11:04 left to play. After a layup from Minnesota's Dawson Garcia, Holloman followed up by stepping into a contested 3-pointer, and knocking it down, putting MSU up 55-51 with 9:19 left.

Next up was Akins, who had back-to-back pick-pocket steals, and followed the second steal up with an acrobatic put-back dunk. On the ensuing defensive possession, Akins snagged a gritty rebound that led to a basket from Hall, and extended MSU’s run to 15-2, and an eight-point lead at 59-51 with 7:25 remaining to play.

Of note, Booker checked in with 4:37 left in the game with the Spartans up eight points. This showed trust in the freshman from Izzo that perhaps up until this point has not been demonstrated often.

In the end, once Walker flipped the script the second half, shooting 4-for-6 from the field, the game was ultimately over. Walker scored 10 points in the second half, adding to his 15 points in total.

The player of the game is undoubtedly MSU senior guard A.J. Hoggard, who led the Spartans with 17 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the field, and had a team-high six assists. Players like Holloman, Akins, Hall, Walker and Booker all played strong roles as well.

For a player who has received much criticism, this performance has to feel good for Hoggard, who last week spoke on “changing the story” on this team, and his time at Michigan State.

Sophomore center Jaxon Kohler also had a solid outing with seven points, six rebounds and an assist.

Michigan State will take on No. 1-seeded Purdue on Friday at noon Eastern Time. The Boilermakers are led by Big Ten Player of the Year Zach Edey, and first-team All-Big Ten guard Braden Smith.

The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, leading off the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.

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