Michigan State guard Tyson Walker earns All-Big Ten Second Team honors; three other Spartans finish with postseason recognition
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State guard Tyson Walker was among five players to earn All-Big Ten Second Team honors from the coaches and media, the conference announced Tuesday.
Walker, a fifth-year senior, joined Iowa’s Tony Perkins, Maryland’s Jahmir Young, Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga and Wisconsin’s AJ Storr in the coaches poll. Storr, Illinois’ Marcus Domask, Indiana’s Kel’el Ware and Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia joined Walker in the media poll.
Walker is averaging 18.4 points, three assists and 2.9 rebounds per game in his final season as a Spartan. The Westbury, N.Y., native is shooting 44.8 percent from the floor (37.2 percent from three) this season.
Walker’s mobility and production were at times limited by a groin injury during the latter part of the regular season. The injury did not appear to bother Walker on Sunday against Indiana, however. Walker scored 30 points for the second time this season in a 65-64 loss to the Hoosiers.
On Feb. 6, Walker broke Kalin Lucas’ school record of 33 consecutive games with double-digit points. Walker’s streak ended at 35 games. Walker also scored his 1,000th-career point as a Spartan this season, as well as his 2,000th point overall.
Michigan State seniors AJ Hoggard and Malik Hall both earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention recognition from the coaches and media.
Hall returned from an injury-plagued 2022-23 season to average 12.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and two assists per game in his final season at Michigan State. He is shooting 52.7 percent from the field (37.2 percent from three) on the year.
Hall scored a career-high 29 points against Penn State on Feb. 14. He grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds on March 6 against Northwestern.
Hoggard is averaging 10.9 points, five assists and 3.1 rebounds per game this season. He is shooting 40.5 percent from the field (33.3 percent from three). Hoggard scored a season-high 23 points and dished out five assists to help lead Michigan State to a 88-80 win over No. 10 Illinois on Feb. 10.
Hoggard and Hall both scored their 1,000th-career point this season.
Additionally, senior walk-on Davis Smith finished as Michigan State’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. One player from each Big Ten team took home the award.
Michigan State will begin postseason play on Thursday at noon with a game against No. 9-seed Minnesota in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament
Here is a link to the entire Big Ten postseason awards.
