Tyson Walker was one of the standout performers in Sunday’s Michigan State vs. Tennessee exhibition game. He had 22 points, five steals and four assists in 33 minutes of game action.

Walker also took over late in the game by making three straight shots to get the Spartans within one possession of the Volunteers.

“I don’t be feeling like that,” Walker said when asked if he ever feels the need to take control of the game. “It kind of just happens for me. For me to play as long as I did and for the same person to guard me, it’s definitely hard for them to keep up the same intensity because I can keep going all day.”

Walker helped MSU get back in a game where the Spartans trailed by as many as 18 points.

“I should’ve played a little harder offensively in the beginning, being more aggressive,” Walker said. “Everybody sticks with me and tells me to hunt my shot, and that’s what I did late.”

The Spartans got punched in the mouth early as they trailed 17-1 and later 30-12 in the first half. While they fought their way back into the game, Michigan State ended up losing 89-88.

Walker was asked if he thought it was beneficial for the team, especially the freshmen, to face some adversity before the regular season starts next Monday.

“It’s definitely good,” Walker said. “They got thrown in the fire early, so they played well for freshmen, they played well. Just got to learn.”

One of the freshmen that stood out on Sunday was Coen Carr. Carr scored nine points with eight of those coming on dunks. Two of those four dunks were alley-oops from Walker.

“It’s easy man,” Walker said about his connection on the floor with Carr. “Just got to throw it up there. It happens in practice. You just got to throw it up there and he's going to go get it. I missed him on one, but he still dunked it. And I told him I missed it. That boy is a freak, man. I call him half man, half amazing.”

Carr’s dunks got the crowd out of its seat on Sunday. Throughout the game, the fans provided the players with a great environment to play high-level college basketball in. The environment was so good that Walker forgot that it was an exhibition game.

“For a second, I really thought it was a real game,” Walker said. “It didn’t feel like an exhibition game.”

Michigan State has a tough schedule coming up. After home games against James Madison and Southern Indiana to open the regular season, the Spartans will play No. 2 Duke in Chicago as part of the Champions Classic. Walker thought it was good to get back out on the court against a quality opponent to prepare for the Champions Classic game and other games to come.

“It was good,” Walker said. “Just getting back into it. Having that quality of an opponent playing in here this early, it’s always good to have especially when we got young guys. We got a big, big game coming up in two weeks. This is definitely good to have just so they know what it’s like to play hard. You know we play hard in practice, but when somebody else is playing hard, you got to pick it up even more.”

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