COLUMBUS, Ohio — The push-and-pull between Tom Izzo and his point guards over the years has always been fascinating.
When a point guard first arrives on campus, rarely does everything jell. Izzo is often pulling his hair out, while the player is wondering whether he can make the right move. To say it’s a difficult process at times would be an understatement, but the track record of successful point guards at Michigan State during the Hall of Fame coach’s tenure is hard to ignore.
From Mateen Cleaves to Kalin Lucas to Denzel Valentine to Cassius Winston. They all went through that process, and in the end, each found that perfect connection with the coach, finally becoming an extension of Izzo on the floor.
It has been no different for A.J. Hoggard.
From spotty playing time as a freshman during a convoluted COVID season to last year’s steady rise, full of ups and downs, Hoggard has slowly started to become exactly the player Izzo has been pushing and prodding for, the “head of the snake,” as Izzo often calls the point-guard position.
And early during Sunday’s victory over No. 2 Marquette, a win that sent No. 7 Michigan State to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time under Izzo, and for the first time since 2019, there was a moment when it looked like the process had been completed.
It wasn’t a pass or a shot or a steal. Minutes into the game, Izzo was laying into sophomore guard Jaden Akins for a defensive mistake. Hoggard quickly stepped in, put his hands on Izzo's shoulders, looked his coach in the eyes and said, essentially, “I’ve got this.”
Izzo stopped, nodded his head and turned back to the bench.
In that moment, it was A.J. Hoggard’s team, and it just so happened to come after Hoggard shook off a turnover in the game’s first 10 seconds by responding with a feed to Mady Sissoko for a dunk, a drive for a layup, an assist on a Tyson Walker jumper and then his own step-back 3-pointer to give Michigan State a 9-2 lead.
“They were tough,” Izzo said, “and it started with that first one, where they kind of stole the ball from him, and they came at him all day. To A.J.'s credit, that's where I think he's grown, because I said to him, he could have just died then. Then, he made two great plays in a row, and I think he made some big steps and was the key.”
To be fair, Hoggard has been the key all season and he’ll continue to be the key, as the Spartans (21-12) prepare to take on No. 3 Kansas State on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.
When Hoggard is at his best — as he has been the first two games of this tournament — the Spartans often follow.
They surely did against Marquette, with Walker scoring 17 of his 23 in the second half, Joey Hauser taking a feed from Hoggard for a late 3-pointer and the defense, as a whole, making life miserable for the Golden Eagles’ star guards.
“It felt like we never got into a rhythm,” said Marquette guard Tyler Kolek, the Big East Player of the Year who scored just seven points and turned the ball over six times. “We turned the ball over a lot — 16 turnovers, that's unlike us. If you turn the ball over, you're not going to get a shot up because it's going the other way.
“So, I just thought they took us out of our rhythm. They were more aggressive than we were.”
Hoggard, of course, led the way on that, too, even overcoming foul trouble and relying on his teammates to help him out — namely, Sissoko, who had two massive blocks in the game’s final minutes.
“I think certain situations we’ve been in this year definitely prepared us for this moment, and we just responded well,” Hoggard said. “Guys made big-time plays at big-time moments. Mady got two big-time blocks. I had four fouls and Kolek got by me. I couldn’t really contest, and he had my back two times.
“So, I appreciate the guys for having my back.”
And they surely appreciate Hoggard, who more than once has referenced Michigan State’s loss to Duke at the same point in last season’s NCAA Tournament. It was in that game that Hoggard nearly led the Spartans to the upset, a couple of late mistakes instead leading to a difficult defeat.
But, as Hoggard said, those experiences led to what took place Sunday. And in the final minutes, with the game on the line, Hoggard was there to captain the ship.
There was the dish to Hauser for the critical triple from the corner with 4:23 to play.
“Yeah, it was a big shot,” Hauser said. “A.J. made a play and found me there.”
Hoggard even was able to shake off a bad pass on the next possession, leading to Marquette pulling within a point with 3:36 to play. Walker responded with his running left-hander off the glass, before Hoggard got downhill and scored at the rim to put Michigan State up five with 2:20 left.
It was essentially iced from there, as Sissoko got the first of his two blocks and Walker hit a contested jumper to put Michigan State ahead, 62-55.
“That’s what we live for,” Hoggard explained. “That’s what you work for. To be on this stage and be able to make key plays like that to help us win the game is definitely something that we’re going to always remember. That’s just what we’ve talked about since we lost to Duke last year, to be honest. We just wanted another shot. We got our shot, and we responded really well.”
Now, they’ll get a shot to push things even further. And with Hoggard pulling the strings, it seems there’s no limit to where things might go for the Spartans.
NCAA Tournament
MICHIGAN STATE VS. KANSAS STATE
What: East Region semifinals
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Madison Square Garden, New York
