The ever-present question of whether or not MSU would have consistent point guard play amplified after the last-minute switch. The point guard duo answered the call from Izzo and produced their best-combined game through 24 games of the season in MSU’s 76-61 win over Indiana. 

Hoggard and Walker combined for 29 points, eight assists and just four turnovers in the Spartans’ comfortable victory. The duo, which has drawn the ire of Izzo on a consistent basis in Big Ten play, looked to have unlocked the secret to playing well in the role switch.

“We just had a conversation about switching things up,” Hoggard said. “(Izzo) wanted to see a different look. And I was okay with it, Tyson was okay with it, so we kind of just went with it and ran with it.”

The different look led to the best performance from the two this year. Hoggard and Walker both looked comfortable taking their turn running the offense, making decisive downhill attacks and ultimately setting the stage for MSU’s bounce-back victory. 

It started with Hoggard, who got his first start since making eight starts as a freshman in 2020-21. Izzo said the switch to Hoggard was a two-part decision based on the team’s slow starts and Hoggard’s strong assist numbers recently (27 in the last five games before Indiana). 

The impact of the change was immediate for the Spartans. Hoggard’s penchant for playing at a blazing speed helped offset MSU’s early offensive struggles and was a vocal leader for others on the court. That speed has landed him in Izzo’s doghouse before, but on Saturday, Hoggard was never out of control with the ball in his hands as he lead a very efficient MSU offense for the first time in weeks. 

“I kind of just wanted to get everybody going early, just starting at the point of attack,” Hoggard said. “Me just being out there from the beginning of the game for the tipoff, I just wanted to bring energy to get guys going.”

Hoggard played the first seven minutes of the game, the longest time of any starter before finally leaving the court for Walker. Hoggard did most of his damage in the first half, finishing with 11 points, five assists and four rebounds going into the halftime locker room.

It was not a perfect afternoon for Hoggard, however, who got sent to the locker room for an early shower after being ejected from the game with four minutes left. Hoggard picked up a technical in the first half for shoving Indiana’s senior forward Miller Kopp, leaving him on thin ice. He finally broke through the ice in the final minutes as MSU pulled away as he was T’d up for clapping at Indiana’s bench going into a timeout. The second technical had Izzo “flabbergasted” but added he didn’t have a good view of the call. 

“I'm big on celebrating with your teammates, not celebrating with anybody else,” Izzo said. “And so if that happened, then I got my own reprimanding to do because I'm not putting up with that either.”

Where did that success leave Walker, the point guard that started the first 23 games of the season? The Northeastern transfer that was brought in to elevate the position lost his job but found himself having fun on Saturday like he hasn’t before as a Spartan.

“I was having a hell of a time,” Walker said with an ear-to-ear smile. “Just me having fun. Having a good time, man.”

Walker lost his starting spot because of his struggles setting up teammates recently (five assists in last four games) and the team’s slow starts offensively, Izzo said. After another week of extensive meetings with the point guards, Izzo decided to make the switch on Thursday.

Walker’s play has been topsy-turvy all year as he’s searched to find his footing at the power five level. The switch from Northeastern to MSU has had its good and bad moments for Walker, but things never fully clicked to produce consistently good results. He’s struggled to find his own shot in the offense, deferring to set up others, or struggled with mental mistakes such as foul trouble and turnovers. 

It felt as though Walker was trying to conform to a perfect mold of an Izzo point guard, but failed to let the game come to him and attack with the talents that brought him to East Lansing. That inconsistency led to the switch which helped ease the pressure on Walker’s shoulders Saturday.

The benching lit a fire under Walker, who finished with 15 points and two steals in 18 minutes. It was his first game off the bench since he was a freshman at Northeastern, where his scoring off the bench earned him the nickname “Electric Factory”. Walker played a newfound sense of freedom on both ends of the court and looked like he finally brought the Electric Factory to the Breslin Center. 

Walker’s aggression on offense was a sight the MSU coaching staff has desperately been waiting for. In the past, Walker has opted to take a backseat offensively and focus on setting up his teammates. But on Saturday in the second unit, Walker hunted for his own shot.

“He's trying to fit in and realizes he has to be a passer but I really do need him to take some of those shots,” Izzo said. “Everybody thinks that I'm always on people about shooting, I was on him about not shooting. I wanted him to shoot.”

The mojo was also on the defensive end for Walker, who hounded Indiana senior point guard Xavier Johnson. Walker checked in the second half with MSU clinging to a 43-41 lead and immediately flipped the script with his on-ball defense. Walker generated a steal just seconds after checking in, leading to a monstrous junior forward Malik Hall alley-oop in transition. 

“Tyson got into it defensively a little bit more, which I've been waiting for,” Izzo said.

MSU did some soul-searching after the loss to Wisconsin on Tuesday and the point guard switch proved to be the solution, at least temporarily. MSU clicked on offense Saturday for the first time since beating Michigan and the play of Walker and Hoggard was the catalyst.

MSU will need this version of its point guard duo as it looks to make up ground in the Big Ten title race into the postseason. The early signs of success were evident, and the attitude of each player about the change gives a reason to be hopeful.

Making a move like this can hurt a team’s chemistry, especially going into the final stretch of the season, but that won’t happen with Hoggard and Walker. The two, both from the East Coast, have grown to consider each other best friends as they’ve worked in lockstep to improve during the season. 

“Tyson is one of my best friends,” Hoggard said. “We walk to practice, walk home from practice together. We talked about it. He was cool with it, I was cool with it, so we just accepted it and just know we gotta bring it, whether we’re starting or not starting. We’ve just gotta bring it each and every night being the point guards of the team.”