MSU Men's Basketball: Tom Izzo and players look to define “progress”

A slugfest took place Thursday night at a packed Breslin Center in East Lansing. Michigan State parlayed a late 10-2 run in the final minutes against Minnesota into their third win in conference play thus far, and 11th win on the season (11-7).

MSU struggled to find answers for Minnesota’s hot hand from behind the arc, and MSU’s lead stayed in single digits for most of the game; it was all tied at 62 with 3:38 left on the clock.

In the end, like most games this season, MSU’s fate rested on the shoulders of Tyson Walker — and with that weight came an onslaught of offensive dominance. Walker scored 12 points in the final 3:38 minutes, and secured the win for the Spartans.

Up until that point, Tyson had been all but stifled, scoring just 9 points in the first 36 minutes of play. After the game, head coach Tom Izzo was asked how to get Walker more assertive in the first 36 minutes of play.

He responded, “I don’t know, ask him," followed with, “I love him too, he was great, his attitude was great, but he was just existing out there, and I just said 'what are we doing?'"

“The last minutes Tyson Walker was a different player, and it bothers me," Izzo added." So we won a game, that’s what you got to do this time of year, win games. But if you're gonna really do something…”

A lot was said postgame about a game like tonight, and what kind of progress, if any, was gained against the Golden Gophers.

“You got to win games, and you got to be progressing every game, ” Izzo said, “we won a game. We did not progress.”

Sitting at his locker afterwards, A.J. Hoggard was asked if there was progress to be found in tonight’s game. He responded, “There’s always progress in winning, we closed out a game, we didn’t do that for some games this year. Can’t be satisfied, some things we didn't do, so just got to watch some film and get better.”

Walker echoed what appears to be a shared view amongst the locker room and Spartan faithful, when asked if there was progress in tonight’s win.

Walker paused for a moment.

“There’s definitely more progress than losing.”

Can't argue with that.

One thing Izzo, Hoggard, and Walker agreed on was the huge impact Malik Hall brings when playing at this level. He scored 16 points, grabbed 12 boards, and dished out four assists on his milestone night. For the sake of congruency, let's all agree collectively that the dunk (watch below) was the 1000th point (not the layup prior). Based on Izzo and the players discussion of Malik’s 1000th point, it appears they’re on board.

Izzo said, “Malik (Hall) gets his 1000th point on one of the better dunks I’ve seen in this building, gets the double-double, plays good defense. I thought all in all he did a hell of a job. Of course he is a hell of a player.”

Hoggard added his praise saying, “ I was happy for him — seeing someone accomplish something they set out for is always big.”

Hall had said earlier that Hoggard had been on him the past two weeks about the milestone. Hoggard laughed after the game, saying, “I been tracking him. I knew he needed 11 (points).“

Walker talked about the impact Hall had on the game.

“He played a hell of a game, thats just how it had to go, he stayed aggressive, scored the ball, dominant down low, and thats what we needed him to do today,” said Walker.

He also welcomed Hall to the Millennium club with open arms.

“Great accomplishment,“ Walker said, “I hope everybody can score 1000, it’s a great feeling."

Hall talked about the special moment and expressed gratitude to his family for being a part of the moment and making the special commemorative t-shirts.

“I had no idea about (the shirts) until I got (in the locker room) and saw them on my phone," Hall said as the throng of reporters started peeling away from his locker." I’m happy they did that for me, makes me feel good.”

MSU looks ahead to a matchup at Maryland this Sunday at noon. Maryland beat #10 Illinois last Sunday in Champagne and at times have looked like a dangerous team, with senior guard Jahmir Young leading the way. Walker was asked what it will take to get the win, and responded: “Play a full game.”

We’ll see if, at the least, MSU can continue progressing in the win column.

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