Why Michigan State basketball may face 'tall' task vs. Wisconsin without Malik Hall

EAST LANSING — Jaxon Kohler won’t be ready yet. Malik Hall is feeling under the weather. And Tom Izzo knows Michigan State basketball could use their help with a tall test ahead.

Wisconsin and its twin towers Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl come to town Tuesday night (7 p.m., Peacock) for the Big Ten opener for both teams. And Izzo is looking for all of the rebounding he can get from his Spartans.

“We got our work cut out for us,” Izzo said Monday. “It's a very good opener. It's, I still think, one of the top three or four teams in the league. They have experienced coaching and players that have proven themselves before and are playing pretty well.”

Both MSU (4-3) and Wisconsin (6-1) are just outside the top 25 of the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, though the Badgers are coming off a 75-64 home win over then-No. 3 Marquette on Saturday.

Izzo said Hall contracted an illness late last week that kept him out of practice Saturday and Sunday. MSU hoped to have the 6-foot-8 senior forward working out again Monday, but Izzo isn’t sure how much — if at all — Hall will be able to play Tuesday.

“We just have no idea until we practice on what he can do and how much he can do,” Izzo said. “The problem is, it's not been 24-48 (hours), it's been four days. And so I don't know what that'll mean at game time. Nor do I really care from the standpoint of I can't control it.”

Izzo added that Tyson Walker is back to about 99% healthy after dealing with his own illness, but he added his senior guard also is battling a slight hip issue.

Wisconsin features 7-foot junior center Crowl, and 6-9 fifth-year forward Wahl, who are combining to average 22.4 points and 13.5 rebounds. The Badgers also have four others who are 6-9 or taller, including 6-11 freshman Nolan Winter.

Izzo after last week’s win said he anticipated shrinking minutes for “some” of his freshmen, particularly five-star freshman Xavier Booker. The 6-11 forward struggled with Georgia Southern’s size and physicality, and at 220 pounds likely could do the same with the big bodies of the Big Ten.

Even if Hall plays, the onus will fall on 6-11 sophomore Carson Cooper and 6-9 senior Mady Sissoko to provide post defense and rebounding against the Badgers, who are a plus-6.4 on the glass overall this season and outrebounded Marquette by 15. Sissoko leads MSU with 6.3 rebounds a game, while Cooper averages 5.9 as the two have split time at center.

“Obviously when anyone goes down, you have to ask a few people to replace his minutes, and it has to be with people to give the same energy that he would give,” Hall said Friday afternoon. “It's just asking people to step up more — and that not just being younger guys, that also being like older guys playing more minutes or making sure that you can go longer and make sure that you're doing it to a level that it would be as if we had another person.”

Wisconsin also averages 12 offensive boards a game, and the Spartans have allowed opponents to grab their own misses 11.3 times in seven non-conference games so far this season. MSU has allowed double-digit offensive boards in five of those contests, including 43 combined to mid-majors James Madison, Southern Indiana and Alcorn State. The Spartans are a plus-2.7 overall in rebounding margin for the season, 39.7-37.0.

Izzo said part of that is because his roster is “small.” That, he said, will require players to “gang-rebound” more frequently and iron out some of the defensive issues when opposing guards get into the paint.

“Our defensive stats have been good, but I think we've given up more dribble penetration than we normally have,” Izzo said. “And then people get out of sorts, and those rebounds are cleaner.”

Kohler and his 6-9, 245-pound frame would help in a game like this. And though Izzo said the sophomore forward remains on schedule in his recovery from his left foot surgery in October, Kohler isn’t expected to be ready to play until late December at the earliest.

“You watch him every day, he's down there shooting, he's doing things. You'd swear he's ready to go right now,” Izzo said. “He's had no setbacks, knock on wood or stone. But he's really done a hell of a job. The doctors have been positive. He had his first real X-ray and everything looked like it was good.

“What does that mean for a date? They've talked about maybe before Christmas, but that I think would be on the the best scenario. The worst scenario would be right after Christmas. And so that's encouraging, because I think he does bring another element to our team, which is scoring inside and outside.”

The Badgers bring plenty of veteran depth in the backcourt as well. Junior 6-2 point guard Chucky Hepburn is posting 10.8 points and 3.1 assists, and 6-4 junior Max Klesmit is averaging 8.6 points but is coming off a season-high 21 in the upset of the Golden Eagles. And 6-7 sophomore swingman AJ Storr, a transfer from St. John’s, averages a team-leading 13.3 points.

Izzo said MSU’s guards, particularly Jaden Akins and A.J. Hoggard, will need to help in the post by crashing the glass harder. Akins, a 6-4 junior, averages 5.6 a game while 6-4 senior Hoggard grabs 3.1 a game. Izzo added that he wants to see better and more consistent rebounding from freshman Coen Carr, who is averaging 3.1 a game in his 18.3 minutes. He also needs Hall once to “ratchet it up a notch, but I don't know if it'll be Tuesday.”

“I think you'll see both of our bigs playing together a little bit. I think we'll be doing some of that. ... They'll have to deal with us, too, if we go smaller,” Izzo said. “So there'll be a couple of things we're going to do hopefully to even that out.”

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

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Next up: Badgers

Matchup: No. 25 Michigan State (4-3) vs. Wisconsin (6-2).

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Tuesday; Breslin Center, East Lansing.

TV/radio: Peacock (streaming only), WJR-AM (760).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball may face 'tall' Wisconsin without Malik Hall