Five Takeaways: A.J. Hoggard lifts Michigan State in road victory over Penn State

The Spartans needed to bounce back and get to .500 in conference play, and that's what they did in State College...

Off back-to-back losses, Michigan State faced a tough test on the road against Penn State on Wednesday night.

The Nittany Lions came in as the Big Ten Conference's leader in three-point shooting, but the Spartans defended the perimeter well and junior point guard A.J. Hoggard led Michigan State to a 67-58 win.

With this victory, the Spartans improve to 6-4 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Here's what stood out from an important victory for MSU:

1.) A.J. Hoggard shows out in home state

A native of Pennsylvania, A.J. Hoggard put on a show in his home state on Wednesday night. The junior point guard finished with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while adding six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot.

I've said it before, but Michigan State goes as Hoggard goes. If the Spartans can get healthy and Hoggard plays well, this is one of the better teams in the Big Ten Conference. MSU doesn't need its point guard to score 23 points each night, but they need Hoggard to make the right decisions with the basketball. He did that tonight, and the Spartans came out victorious.

2.) Double-double for Joey Hauser

It's been truly remarkable seeing how much more comfortable Joey Hauser is this season. The fifth-year senior has shot the ball much better this season, and has been the Spartans' best rebounder as well.

Tonight, Hauser recorded a double-double tonight with 12 points and 15 rebounds, and added three assists and a blocked shot. The senior didn't stretch the floor like we've seen him do often this year, going 0-for-2 from the three point line, but that didn't sink his game.

Hauser can struggle to defend at times, especially now with Malik Hall out of the lineup, but he's making up for that in other areas.

3.) Spartans cut down on turnovers

Throughout the last two seasons, we discussed Michigan State's turnover woes ad nauseam. But the Spartans have done a much better job of taking care of the basketball so far this season.

Maybe that comes from having a veteran point guard now in Hoggard. The junior still makes some head-scratching decisions with the ball, but those have come less frequently in 2022-23.

Michigan State had 13 turnovers in the loss to Northwestern, but cut that number down to nine giveaways tonight. That doesn't sound like much of a difference, but in close games on the road in conference play, every possession is vital.

4.) Jaxon Kohler plays big role in 1st half

Starting center Mady Sissoko once again found himself in foul trouble early in this one, and that forced head coach Tom Izzo to turn to his true freshman big man Jaxon Kohler to play extended minutes in the first half.

Kohler took advantage of the opportunity, and Penn State's lack of size on the interior, to turn in a good first half for the Spartans. The freshman scored all six of his points in the opening 20 minutes, and added an assist on a kick out to Jaden Akins for a three-pointer.

Kohler needs to continue to work on his conditioning and defense, but we've seen flashes of what made the freshman a four-star prospect coming out of high school. He provided an offensive lift for MSU in the first half tonight when the Spartans needed it.

5.) Spartans lock in on defense

We mentioned above that Penn State entered this game as the top three-point shooting team in the Big Ten so far this season. Izzo and the Spartans certainly knew that coming in to tonight's game, and they locked up the Nittany Lions throughout the night.

Michigan State limited Penn State to just 8-of-27 from beyond the three-point line in this one, and the Nittany Lions shot just 35 percent from the floor. The Spartans also limited Penn State to just one shot through most of the night, surrendering only five offensive rebounds for two second-chance points.

Izzo got the defensive performance that he was looking for on a night in which Michigan State really needed it.

Up Next

Michigan State gets some much-needed relief to its schedule for the rest of the month. The Spartans will play just three more games in 2022, all at home, against Brown, Oakland and Buffalo.

That will give MSU the opportunity to rest up and hopefully get Malik Hall ready for the restart to Big Ten play in 2023. Of course, Michigan State is probably still kicking itself for letting a home game against Northwestern get away, but with tonight's road win at Penn State the Spartans avoid an early hole to start conference play.