AJ Hoggard explains why he wanted to guard Jaden Ivey

Purdue’s Jaden Ivey is one of the most electrifying players in all of college basketball. It takes a fierce competitor to want to defend him during a college basketball game. Michigan State’s AJ Hoggard wanted that defensive assignment badly before the Purdue-Michigan State game on Saturday. He was telling his teammates about it all week.

Spartans forward Julius Marble said Hoggard told him before the game, “They better put me on Ivey, I’m gonna make sure he has a tough day.” He did just that. Ivey had five turnovers, as Purdue was upset by Michigan State 68-65. He did score 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Ivey averages just over two turnovers per contest. “My job today was just to slow him down,” Hoggard said after the game.

Hoggard led the game with six assists for Michigan State. He also had three turnovers in 30 minutes of work for the Spartans. In the losing effort, Purdue’s Zach Edey dominated down low, dumping in 25 points, swatting two blocks, and corralling two rebounds. The Spartans stifling defense forced the Boilermakers into 17 turnovers. Purdue was also ice cold from beyond-the-arc, only hitting one-of-nine attempts (11.1 percent). Michigan State on the other hand, found their groove from deep, connecting on 9-of-20 (45 percent) shots from three.

The win on Saturday night was huge for Michigan State’s NCAA Tourney hopes. In Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology, he ranked the Spartans as a No. 7 seed.

Michigan State now has three games left on its schedule, starting with a showdown against Michigan on March 1. The Spartans close out the regular season at Ohio State March 3 and vs. Maryland on March 5 in the season finale.

Purdue now has to get ready for arguably its biggest game yet. The Boilermakers will face Wisconsin in Madison on Tuesday, and that game will have huge implications in the standings. They’ll close out the regular season at home against Indiana on March 5.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this story.