One possible issue in this game could be Michigan State’s ability to focus after coming off a nice win at Washington and going up against an injured Oregon State team that had to play without injured starters Jackson Shelstad and Nate Butte. The issue seems to have been put on hold long ago, but it won’t last long.
Oregon struggled to get things going offensively, and the Spartans got contributions from their entire starting five in the first five minutes. Divine Ugochukwu burst into Oregon’s lane and found Carson Cooper for a layup to start Michigan State’s scoring drive. Coen Carr hit a three-pointer, Jeremy Fears drove to the basket to complete the scoring, Jaxon Kohler scored on a rebound, and Cooper scored 4 more points to give the Spartans a 13-4 lead with 14:41 left in the game.
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However, the script flipped after the first media timeout, as Takai Simpkins put Oregon back in the game with a 3-pointer. Next, Simpkins stole the ball from Phils, was fouled under the basket and made two free throws. Simpkins’ run gave Oregon nine points, while Michigan State still had 13 at 12 minutes.
During the second media timeout, Kurt Teng seemed to have some criticism of his defense, which raised eyebrows from Tom Izzo in the Michigan State loss. Then, as the team returned to the field, the Ducks continued to press. Simpkins hit a jumper and a 3-pointer for Oregon. Drew Carter also hit a three-pointer. To make matters worse for the Spartans, Kohler picked up his second foul at 8:14 and was benched. With 7 minutes and 24 seconds left in the game, Michigan State barely held on to a 21-20 lead.
But the Spartans are the team that’s really going to be hard to score on now as they’re forced into an under-eight media timeout for a shot clock violation.
After halftime, Luke Johnson hit a layup to give Oregon the lead. Trey Fort hit two jumpers to bring the Spartans back within 25-22, but MSU never got anywhere inside. Ugo Chukwu’s 3-pointer for MSU was Fiers’ first and only assist of the first half.
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Ege Demir pulled the Ducks within two points at 28-26, and that’s how the first half ended after the Spartans violated the shot clock again.
After scoring 13 points in the first 5:19, MSU trailed Oregon 22-15 the rest of the way. And, after only committing five turnovers against Washington, Michigan State had seven turnovers tonight. Sparta’s bench also had a bad night. Ford contributed only four points in the first half for Michigan State’s reserves and scored 31 points off the bench against Washington.
Cooper led MSU with nine points at halftime and Carr led the way with eight. Simpkins’ 10 points led all scorers after the first 20 minutes.
Michigan State held a 12-8 advantage in the paint battle at halftime, but they seemed to be on jump shots for much of the first half when they could even make a shot.
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After Fiers missed an open three-pointer early in the second half, the Spartans seemed more determined to pass the ball in the paint. Ugochukwu was able to get into the paint for a shot, and after Carr broke into the paint, Cooper hit a jumper, attracting the defense and passing the ball to Cooper. Karl hit another three-pointer, but Wei Lin also hit a ball for the Ducks. Simpkins hit two field goals for Oregon State, and after the first media break, Michigan State still only led by two points, 35-34.
Oregon State regained the lead before baskets by Kwame Evans and DeMille extended the lead to 38-35. The Spartans then took advantage of the Ducks’ consecutive turnovers and regained the score with Cooper’s turnaround jumper in the paint and another mid-range shot from Ford.
After Michigan State took the lead, DeMille took a hard fall and returned to the locker room with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, another blow to Oregon’s depth. Demir did return to the bench a few minutes later but did not rejoin the game.
When play resumed, Ford stayed hot for the Spartans, stopping another turnover with a 3-pointer late in the game. Jeremy Lin responded for Oregon and Michigan State only led 42-41. Two Cooper layups – the first a beautiful comeback, the second a drive and pass from Carr – put MSU back in front 46-41 and forced an Oregon timeout with 9:30 left.
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The Spartans were able to keep a little momentum going from there. Kohler’s inside-out three-pointer to Fiers brought the score to 49-42, and then two secondary shots from Carr extended the lead to double digits, 53-42. Evans’ jumper briefly halted MSU’s run, but Cooper’s hook pushed the lead back to 11 with 6:24 left.
Ugochukwu broke through the penalty area again, Fears hit another three-pointer, and Cam Ward hit a high ball, Michigan State extended its lead to 62-46. But Oregon will fight to the end. Oleksandr Kobzystyi’s three-pointer brought the Ducks closer, making it 62-49 with 3:18 left.
However, fear closed the door. He finished with a tough run, then made two more free throws and another jump shot with 2:33 left. The bench came on with 1:05 left in the game and the Spartans won 68-52.
Michigan State improves to 17-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten and will return home to face Maryland on Saturday.
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OK
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Let’s start with the obvious – this year’s 2-0 West Coast trip is a lot better than last year’s
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Trey Fort scored nine points in 15 minutes for Michigan State on 4-5 shooting. He’s been quiet for a while, so it’s great to see him contributing again.
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Fear woke up just in time to ignite the Spartans’ spark just when they needed it, but… . .
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Cooper has been solid all the way. He scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, both near and mid-range, and had 7 rebounds.
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Karl hit some three-pointers, had a nice break and pass, and went on offense again to score 15 points.
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I liked Ugochukwu’s aggressiveness in driving and a few transitions.
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Oregon State missed some open shots, but holding the team to just 52 points at home seemed good.
harm
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After a pretty solid start, we took our foot off the gas and then…. . .
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Stayed for a long time, content with jump shots, and had a hard time getting anything in the paint for a while against an injury-riddled Oregon team that finished below .500.
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Only 2 points – Kohler only took 3 shots. How is it possible?
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At some point in the near future we’re going to need to see a consistent performance from this team and not just a rush, and I don’t think we were able to do that tonight.
