A tale of two halves ties Izzo with Bob Knight
Just prior to tip, the TV crew announced that Jeremy Fears would be out due to a stomach virus that has been making its way through the MSU locker room. Xavier Booker was dealing with the same issue and didn’t play today either. Jase Richardson started in place of Fears and had a massive impact, although Michigan State would bring their turnover problems from the West Coast back to East Lansing in the first half.
The Spartans also had a lot of trouble penetrating Oregon’s zone defense and that, combined with the turnovers and the Ducks’ red hot three point shooting would have MSU reeling at the halftime break.
Jackson Shelstad lost Jaden Akins on a screen and drilled a three to get things started for Oregon. Shelstad would go on to score 22 but wouldn’t have a field goal in the second half as MSU’s defense clamped down.
After Shelstad’s three an immediate MSU turnover on their first possession led to an open three from Nate Bittle and a quick 6-0 Oregon lead.
A Kohler putback got MSU on the board but another turnover led to another Oregon score in the form of a layup from Shelstad. Oregon would go on to get points off all 12 MSU turnovers in the game. After the Spartans tied it at 8 another turnover led to another Shelstad layup and Oregon back up 10-8.
A barrage of threes followed with Jaxon Kohler getting it started and giving MSU its first lead at 11-10. That was quickly answered with a step back from Shelstad and then two in a row from Richardson to put MSU up 17-13 at the first TV timeout.
A nice Richardson step back near the top of the key put the Spartans up 19-14 but Oregon would continue to capitalize off MSU’s turnovers and tie it at 19 after an offensive rebound, putback, and three point play from Kwame Evans Jr.
Coen Carr bypassed an open three, drove it to the rim, and gave the Spartans the lead back at 21-19 but Oregon would start rolling from there. An Evans three gave the lead back to the Ducks and then TJ Bamba gave Oregon its 12th point off 5 MSU turnovers and a 24-21 lead with a drive late in the shot clock.
A three from Bittle extended it to 29-22 for Oregon. The Spartans got it back to 34-30 before a Brandon Angel three put Oregon back up seven. Shelstad hit another three and then got a steal and laid it in at the other end. Suddenly it was 42-30 Oregon.
Another Spartans’ turnover led to another three from Jaden Tracey and then Evans Jr. drained another triple at the buzzer to send MSU to the break down 14 on their home floor.
Oregon dropped 50 on the Spartans behind 10-19 three point shooting, a 14-8 advantage in the paint, and 21 points off nine MSU turnovers.
MSU looked dead at the break but came out fighting with an 8-0 run to start the second half. Kohler found Holloman for an open corner three then Richardson got in the lane and created a three point play. Kohler hit a tough turnaround and then a Shelstad airball forced a timeout from Oregon just 2:12 into the second half.
The run extended to 12-0 after the timeout on two buckets from Szymon Zapala. Oregon would respond with Angel drawing a foul and hitting one of two to end the MSU run. The Spartans would then turn it over again and the Ducks would eventually get a dunk and one from Supreme Cook to put them back up six, 54-48.
A three from Richardson cut it back to three at the under 16 timeout. Richardson struck again coming out of the break and cut it to one on a nice drive and finish.
Oregon had a response though, as fouls and frustration started to mount for MSU. Cook muscled his way inside and scored and then Fidler picked up the sixth Spartan foul of the half. Bamba hit both free throws and then Shelstad drew another foul on Fidler. Tom Izzo was irate and drew a technical. Four Oregon free throws – two for the common foul and two for the technical – had Oregon back up 62-53 but now it was MSU’s time to respond and it was really all Green from there.
Akins stopped the bleeding with a huge three and then slammed home a lob from Holloman to cut it to 62-58. A Holloman three would cut it to one before the under 12 timeout.
A Kohler putback off an Akins miss and three point play would finally give MSU the lead back at 64-62. A desperation fade away from Tracy would tie it but MSU would follow with a 6-0 run, starting with a beautiful drive through three defenders by Akins and followed by two free throws apiece from Kohler and Zapala to put MSU up 70-64 with 7:56 to go.
Michigan State’s 12th turnover, coming out of the break, would lead to an Evans layup as the Ducks cut the lead back to four.
The next segment would feature Jase Richardson going off and Oregon shooting free throws to barely hang in there. Richardson proved too much for the Ducks though. Richardson drew a foul late in the shot clock and hit both to put MSU back up six then Shelstad drew a foul and hit one to get it back to a five point deficit for the Ducks.
Carson Cooper was fouled after an offensive rebound and hit both and then Shelstad drew Zapala’s fourth foul and hit both to make it 74-68. Richardson responded by drawing another foul and hitting two more free throws.
Then Richardson had perhaps the play of the game with a fake step back near the three point line and then drive to the rim for a finish and ten point Spartan lead. After a couple more Oregon free throws, Richardson responded with a jumper and another fancy move in the lane to make the lead 82-70 for the Spartans and that was pretty much it.
The final was 86-74 MSU. Richardson led the way with a career high 29 on 9-12 from the field and 8-9 from the line. Kohler was also impressive for the Spartans with 14 points and 12 boards. Cooper added 9 and 6 while Holloman (13 points) and Akins (10) were in double figures for MSU.
Michigan State would more than double up Oregon, out scoring them 50-24 in the second half. A lot of the damage was done late in the shot clock and with one on one play as MSU finished with only 13 fast break points and assists on 14 of 27 field goals. The Spartans also dominated the boards in the second half and finished with a 40-27 advantage on the glass.
The Michigan State defense completely turned things around in the second half as Oregon finished only 24-61 (39.3%) from the floor. The Spartans were also amazing at the line, going 24-27 in a game that featured 22 fouls on Oregon and 21 on MSU.
The win keeps MSU equal to Purdue in the loss column in Big Ten play – Purdue, at 11-2, is currently a half game ahead of the Spartans, who are now 10-2.
Izzo will have a chance to break Bob Knight’s Big Ten wins record when MSU takes to the floor against Knight’s former team on Tuesday at Breslin.