Michigan State returns to the Breslin looking to end 2-game skid
Well, the dreams of a 20-0 Big Ten record have gone down the drain. But we can still be perfect at home. Michigan State will return to East Lansing for a game against new Big Ten foe Oregon after dropping both games of a Los Angeles trip. The Spartans left on that voyage in first place in the conference but have now slipped just below Purdue and into a tie for 2nd. The Ducks are much lower in the standings. They are one of a handful of Big Ten teams with a handful of conference wins and who find themselves a handful of games back of the conference leaders. Hopefully, being back home brings out some better play from our Spartans and this game is not a handful.
The Oregon Ducks will come into this game on a losing streak of their own, having lost their last four games. Three of those losses were by 4, 6, and 8 points, while the fourth was a 26-point defeat at UCLA. Oregon’s last win was a few weeks back when they hosted Washington, who occupy the cellar of the conference table.
The Ducks do have a couple of impressive wins on their tournament resume, however. Back around Thanksgiving, they participated in and won the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, defeating Texas A&M (then #20, now #10), San Diego State, and Alabama (#9/#3) in a matter of five days. And then they followed that up with a win at USC four days later to run their record to 9-0. Less than a month ago, they had a record of 15-2 before proceeding to lose 5 of their next 6, including a pair of games to conference opponents who were below them in the standings at the time of the game. Their 8 Quad 1 wins are second in the nation.
So what is going on with these Ducks? Should we be worried about them returning to their early-season form? Or should we be able to extend their losing streak to five games? Some of what is plaguing Oregon is similar to what we have seen from Michigan State, though the Spartans have been able to mask those issues better. On the season, the Ducks have had nine different players be the leading scorer in a game, one more than MSU’s count. As their coach, Dana Altman, recently said
This team is another example of not having a go-to guy who the team relies on when points are needed. They do have three players who average double-digits, though the highest is Nate Bittle, their center, at 12.7. They have two additional guys at 9.7 on the season. As a team, they are scoring 76.4 PPG, a made three less than MSU’s 79.5. And like MSU, Oregon is spreading the minutes around, with only one player averaging over 30 minutes per game; they have 9 players getting over 11 minutes per contest.
In their four-game losing streak, there has been a different aspect that was the biggest contributor to each loss. Against Minnesota, they were dominated on the boards, 35-26 including a 10-4 deficit on the offensive glass. In the UCLA blowout, it was the three point game; Oregon went 4-23 from deep, while UCLA made 11 on the same number of attempts. Versus Nebraska, it was their proclivity for committing shooting fouls, as the Cornhuskers went to the charity stripe 29 times in that game, making a decent 21 of them. And at um, it was their inability to get to the line themselves, as they only attempted 11 FTs in a very close loss.
There are a couple of things that Oregon does do well. Of the six players who see the court most (all averaging at least 23 MPG), all of them are shooting FTs at 75% or better. Five of those six guys convert from 3 at least 33% of the time, while the last guy makes 25% of his attempts. As a team, they are making 33% percent, compared to MSU’s 28.7, but the Ducks have also attempted nearly 100 more triples this year than our Spartans (520-425).
In nearly every other statistical category, Oregon finds themselves average or below in comparison to the rest of the conference. Conversely, MSU is second in the conference in both rebounds and assists and are first in blocks. It has been our turnover rate (#16/18) and our 3P% (#18) that has hurt us the most. So again, MSU can turn to their strengths when some parts of their game are struggling. Oregon, on the other hand, does not have that ability. When this game tips off tomorrow, MSU needs to really focus on those areas where we excel so we can get back in the win column and keep pace with Purdue.
GO GREEN! GO WHITE!