EAST LANSING – A.J. Hoggard had already taken back his team from Tom Izzo by the time Izzo stormed onto the court to give Jaden Akins a piece of his mind after Akins picked up a technical foul late in the first half Saturday.
But the picture of Hoggard with his left hand on Izzo’s chest, shoving his coach back toward the bench will forever be one of the indelible images of this season. And if Hoggard has a memorable finish over the next two months, that push — in a tense moment in the middle of an 88-80 win over Illinois — will be seen as the moment he seized control.
That’s potentially a lot of hyperbole after one home win in February. Home wins are easy to overstate. But given the fierceness of the opponent Saturday and what transpired Tuesday at Minnesota, Saturday’s game against Illinois felt like a game where we were going to learn a little about this MSU team, where its season is headed and, more than anything, about its point guard.
“A.J. has been a guy I’ve been on for four years,” Izzo said Saturday. “Tonight you saw why.”