Tom Izzo praises AJ Hoggard in Penn State win

Tom Izzo has the luxury of having a two-headed monster at his lead guard spot. He has Tyson Walker at his disposal as well as junior AJ Hoggard. He came in handy again in a season-best performance on the road at Penn State and Izzo gave him his due credit.

Izzo spoke highly of Hoggard following Michigan State’s 67-58 win over the Nittany Lions on Wednesday night. He said he never holds back his criticisms when necessary but, because of Hoggard’s performance last night, he was ready to give him some well-deserved praise.

“I don’t keep my stuff quiet. I say it just like it was. Aand I told you guys when I didn’t start him why I didn’t start him,” Izzo said. “He tried to lead, he played under control. He did a hell of a job guarding (Javon) Pickett, who’s a hell of a player. I just thought he competed. I really appreciated that.”

Hoggard led the team in scoring with a career-high 23 points on 50% shooting in the Spartan’s first Big Ten win of the season. He also grabbed six rebounds, dished two assists, and picked up both a block and a steal.

Izzo was also overjoyed at Hoggard’s free throw shooting. After shooting 61.5% from the charity stripe his first two collegiate seasons, Hoggard is now all the way up to 87.5% in 2022. That includes his perfect 6/6 night in University Park including a 4/4 stretch in the last 2:05 of the victory. Izzo says he harped on Hoggard for years on that weakness in his game, but now that strength was vital in their sixth win of the season.

“You guys remember when he couldn’t make a free throw to save his life his first two years of existence here? I yelled at him then too,” said Izzo. “And I told him, ‘Man am I happy I didn’t give up and quit jumping you for that?’. Because he worked on it this summer. Right now I think he’s shooting about 89% from the line. It definitely won us this game.”

Guard play wins in college basketball. It’s a trend that’s been shown time and again. Between Walker and Jaden Akins, they already have two quality options. Bringing Hoggard even more into the fold with performance should mean great things for Michigan State as they round out the year and head deeper into conference play.