Michigan State basketball's Tre Holloman back in familiar role with boosted confidence

EAST LANSING — Tre Holloman quietly has produced a breakout start to his second season.

Coach Tom Izzo is going to need his sophomore to become an even more integral contributor for Michigan State basketball the rest of the winter. Especially without his backup backcourt partner, Jeremy Fears Jr.

“I have to keep on being me, keep on doing what coach tells me to do, and I should be fine,” Holloman said after practice Thursday. “My teammates trust me, my teammates, believe in me. So I'm ready for it.”

The Spartans (7-5) host upstart Indiana State (11-1) on Saturday, with a 2 p.m. tipoff at Breslin Center on FS1. It is their first game since Fears was shot in the early morning of Dec. 23 in Joliet, Illinois. The freshman was expected to return to campus Friday, but he is likely to miss most, if not all, of the remainder of MSU’s season while recovering from the wounds to his left thigh.

“Jeremy, he's a special kid, man. For real,” Holloman said. “He just helped me build my confidence back. So I'm just gonna take that, and I'm gonna keep building on that.”

GRAHAM COUCH: MSU can withstand losing Jeremy Fears Jr., but, no way around it, the Spartans will be a little less without him

Fears and Holloman have formed a strong second wave off the bench for Izzo behind starters A.J. Hoggard and Tyson Walker. Together, the backups have combined for 78 assists and 39 rebounds while averaging 9.5 points and turning into a smothering defensive duo that has posted 17 steals between them.

Now, with Fears out, Holloman will be called upon to resume the role he had a year ago as the primary backup point guard. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Minneapolis native is fifth on the team at 18.7 minutes a game that predominantly have been spent at shooting guard behind Walker.

“He's a lockdown guy defensively. There's no question he was getting better every game, just like freshmen do. I mean, it's gonna be a loss for us. It's just going to be,” Izzo said of losing Fears. “Thank God, Tre is a pretty good defender. He's a very good offensive player. And he's been playing his best basketball.

“But nobody just loses a player that's in their playing group and everything's fine. At the same time, he's gotta go through it. And so there'll be no excuses.”

Izzo said splitting minutes between the point and off the ball could be challenge for Holloman.

“I've talked to some NBA teams that were trying to play guys that are 2-guards at the point and stuff like that,” Izzo said Thursday. “It's hard to be a scorer and a (facilitator). And then you gotta be the best defender.”

Holloman has shown the ability to shine at both spots in 12 games this season.

He started twice this season, once at shooting guard against Alcorn State when Walker was out sick and once at the point against Georgia Southern when Hoggard was struggling. Working off the ball against Alcorn, Holloman set a career high with 17 points and hit all five of his 3-point attempts. Running the offense against GSU, Holloman posted a career-best 10 assists and added seven points.

“I've been playing point guard my whole life,” said Holloman, who averaged 1.3 points in 8.6 minutes a game last season behind Hoggard. “I just gotta be the coach on the floor and take care of the ball, play defense and be more vocal. I should be fine.”

For the season, Holloman is averaging 6.0 points, 3.2 assists and 1.3 rebounds with seven steals. He’s leading the Spartans at 45.7% shooting from 3-point range while making 42.6% of his shots overall and plans to remain aggressive offensively while absorbing more of the point guard duties.

“Open shots are open shots,” he said, “so I'm just gonna take great shots and then let the game come to me.”

The Sycamores feature talented and versatile center Robbie Avila. The 6-10, 240-pound sophomore has drawn comparisons to Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic with his ability to score, rebound, handle the ball and see the court. Avila is averaging 16.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 rebounds in his 10 games this season, and he missed ISU's only loss of the season against Alabama on Nov. 10.

Junior Isaiah Swope, a 5-10 junior guard, leads them with 19.0 points a game while making 43.8% from 3-point range. Avila also makes 46.9% from behind the arc.

“This won't be the normal holiday game that you sometimes have,” Izzo said. “This is a team that has a lot of good players and has a unique system.”

Saturday marks just the second time the two programs have played. The other was March 26, 1979, in Salt Lake City, Utah — Magic Johnson’s Spartans defeated Larry Bird’s Sycamores, 75-64, for MSU’s first national championship. It remains the most-watched game in college basketball history.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball's Tre Holloman: Old role, more confidence