Michigan State basketball: Tyson Walker battles groin injury as Spartans prep for Maryland
EAST LANSING — The book has been out for a while now on how to try and stop Tyson Walker.
Especially as, in game after game in January, opponent after opponent nudged, bumped, shoved, pushed and knocked over the Michigan State basketball star.
The minor pains caused by that continuous contact haven't really slowed the senior guard, as he bounced back from each in-game issue. But the cumulative effect is starting to mount, with Walker now battling another issue on top of the other ailments as the home stretch arrives.
It is a problem MSU coach Tom Izzo termed “a little pulled groin.”
“We got to get that straightened out,” Izzo said after practice Thursday. “That is a little bit of an issue for them, but it's not (so) bad it's holding him out. But yeah, he is grimacing a little bit. So tell him to tough-it-up.”
Walker reached double figures in scoring Tuesday night for the 32nd straight game, finishing with 12 points, four assists and three steals in the Spartans' 81-62 home win over Michigan. But he also aggravated the groin injury early in the game and finished just 5-for-14 overall and 0-for-6 from 3-point range for MSU (13-8, 5-5 Big Ten).
However, after practice Thursday, Walker — who prides himself on being one of the most durable players Izzo has had — continued with the same hard-edged refrain he has given after each one of his maladies.
“I'm doing good, man. It's all right,” Walker said. “It's college, you always feel hurt.”
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound fifth-year senior leads the Spartans with 18.9 points a game, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten. He also leads MSU in minutes per game (31.8).
However, in MSU’s past five games, Walker is shooting just 37.3% overall and 33% from 3-point range, averaging 14.4 points — 4.5 below his average. His 17.7 points a game in Big Ten games ranks eighth in the league.
Walker has displayed the type of toughness Izzo loves and appreciates through all of the physical issues.
“I'm not doing any load management at all. If I do anything, it'll be a little bit in practice, but not really,” Izzo said. “I mean, he's in great shape. If the thing is gonna bother him, it's gonna bother him. It might bother him all year. But if he tells me it's too sore, if the trainer does, then we'll take him out of practice. He's just ticked off that twings once in a while.”
Walker dealt with shin splints early in the season before suffering an illness that kept him out for the first time as a Spartan in mid-November. A hip injury in early December has remained bothersome at times, particularly as he takes hard falls from hard fouls, some of which aren't being called.
MSU’s next three opponents — starting Saturday at home against Maryland (5:40 p.m., Fox) — each took turns tactically trying to wear down Walker by being physical with him in their meetings last month.
In a three-point road loss Jan. 11 at Illinois, Walker went 8-for-17, and just 1-for-7 from the 3-point line, but scored 17 points. Minnesota, which hosts MSU on Tuesday, held him in check Jan. 18 until Walker ripped off 12 points in the final 3:46 of an eventual 11-point win. He finished with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting. And the Terrapins limited Walker to just 5-for-14 shooting and 15 points in MSU’s two-point road win Jan. 21.
“They play defense really well,” Walker said Thursday about Maryland. “They do a good job being in gaps, crowding the screens, making you make tough 3s if you're gonna make them.”
No. 6 Wisconsin took a similar approach last Friday, limiting Walker to a season-low 11 on just 4-for-14 shooting.
Despite the roughhousing he has endured from defenses, Walker has only gone to the free throw line 30 times in conference games, making 20. He is 53-for-73 on the season at the line, 27 of those attempts coming in nonconference games against James Madison (11-for-17) and Indiana State (10-for-10).
“I've been having to do it all season,” Walker said after making both of his attempts at Wisconsin. “I don't really shoot free throws in a game, so it's just something you gotta move on from.”
Lansing State Journal reporter Graham Couch contributed to this story.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball: Tyson Walker battling groin injury
