MSU’s underclassmen must step up in Malik Hall’s absence
Michigan State has just finished a tough four-game stretch with wins over No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 23 Rutgers, and a pair of close losses to Illinois and No. 3 Purdue. Senior forward Malik Hall played in two of those games – Wisconsin and Illinois – before re-injuring his foot during the Illinois game.
While head coach Tom Izzo said there’s a chance Hall could return by the end of the season, it’s fairly certain that the senior will miss each of the next four games for the Spartans, which is arguably a tougher four-game stretch than MSU just went through.
It starts Sunday with a road trip to Indiana. The Hoosiers have caught fire recently, with back-to-back double-digit wins over Wisconsin and Illinois. Michigan State will then host Iowa before rematches with Purdue and Rutgers on the road.
Not having Hall, a team captain and the Spartans’ best frontcourt defender, for this stretch will be challenging. In the senior’s absence, Michigan State’s younger players, especially those coming off the bench, will be key in determining whether the Spartans come out of this stretch as a Big Ten title contender or a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament.
The most important underclassmen is sophomore guard Jaden Akins, who has been inserted into the starting lineup since Dec. 4 against Northwestern. When Akins has played well, the Spartans have won games. When he underperformed, Michigan State lost. The sophomore’s lack of consistency hurt MSU in games against Purdue and Illinois.
With Hall sidelined, Akins is the fourth-leading scorer for the Spartans behind Tyson Walker, A.J. Hoggard and Joey Hauser. Akins is the best athlete on the team, and has shown dynamic ability in transition and a knack for getting in passing lanes and coming up with steals. The sophomore is also shooting 41.2 percent from three-point range.
Another player that needs to step up is sophomore wing Pierre Brooks. His minutes have fluctuated throughout this season, as Izzo hesitates to trust Brooks on the defensive end of the floor. Still, Brooks is one of the better three-point shooters on the team and could have been valuable to the Spartans against Illinois, when MSU failed to knock down a single three-point shot. Instead, Izzo played the sophomore just four minutes against the Illini.
Michigan State also needs to continue to get solid play from its pair of freshmen centers, Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper. Kohler is coming off his first career double-double against Rutgers, when he scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.Cooper, meanwhile, has already exceeded expectations, and has clearly improved as the season has progressed. While Kohler is much more polished offensively, Cooper has better athleticism and has been better on the defensive end, despite being thin for a collegiate center.
Finally, freshman point guard Tre Holloman has been something of an overlooked player so far this season. He’s been excellent defensively for a freshman, though has played limited minutes due to Michigan State’s depth in the backcourt.
All five of these underclassman have taken strides in 2022-23, but the Spartans need more contributions, especially off the bench. Akins is slowly shaping into the player that we expected to see before he was sidelined for eight weeks due to undergoing foot surgery, but Michigan State needs the other four to take another step in the absence of Hall.
