Tom Izzo Updates Malik Hall's Injury Status
Michigan State men's basketball has been without small forward Malik Hall since Nov. 23 after tests revealed a stress injury in his right foot following the Spartans' game against Villanova.
On Monday, head coach Tom Izzo met with the media ahead of MSU's home tilt against Oakland on Dec. 21 and noted that Hall has returned to practice but will not play against the Grizzlies.
Michigan State has targeted the Dec. 30 game against Buffalo as the return date for their senior small forward. Through four games, Hall was averaging 12.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.5 steals in 31.8 minutes per game before being sidelined for his injury.
The Spartans were without both Hall and sophomore shooting guard Jaden Akins during their West Coast trip for the Phil Knight Invitational. Akins tweaked his surgically-repaired foot against Villanova on Nov. 18, but returned to MSU's lineup on Dec. 4 against Northwestern.
On Monday, Izzo noted that Akins has shown a lot of improvement over the last week of practice and that his sophomore is much closer to 100 percent heading into 2023.
In seven games played, Akins is averaging 6.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals for the Spartans. The sophomore is one of Michigan State's best on-ball defenders, but has struggled with his offensive efficiency so far this season, shooting just 33 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from three-point range.
After games against Oakland (Dec. 21) and Buffalo (Dec. 30), Michigan State will return to Big Ten play when they host Nebraska (Jan. 3) to begin the new year.
