Michigan State beats Oregon 74-64 to reach Big Ten Tournament semifinal

INDIANAPOLIS — Jase Richardson scored 17 points and Jeremy Fears Jr. added 11 points and five assists to lead No. 7 Michigan State past No. 23 Oregon 74-64 in the first of Friday’s four Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal games.

The Spartans (27-5) have now won eight straight, matching a season best. The league’s regular-season champion will face No. 18 Wisconsin, an 86-70 winner over fourth-seeded UCLA, in Saturday’s first semifinal game.

Jaden Akins had 12 points for the Spartans while Coen Carr had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Nate Bittle finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Ducks (24-9). TJ Bamba added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Michigan State scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 42-32 lead and used a 15-0 second half run to pull away after Oregon had cut the deficit to 44-43 with 15:33 left.

Takeaways

Oregon: The Ducks certainly made a case for improving their NCAA Tournament seed with two solid showings in Indianapolis. Though they didn’t reach the semifinals, they played well enough for 25 minutes Friday to help their cause.

Michigan State: Coach Tom Izzo’s team is playing like a Final Four contender. Can the Spartans get a No. 1 seed? That may be too much to ask since they’d need substantial help this weekend, but sweeping the Big Ten titles would help.

Key moment

Michigan State responded to Izzo’s timeout after Oregon made it a one-point game by pitching a shutout over the next nearly 5 1/2 minutes.

Key stat

Despite only a 36-29 rebounding advantage, Michigan State outscored Oregon 16-4 in second-chance points.

Up next

Oregon will find out its next matchup on Selection Sunday.

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MICHIGAN STATE 74, OREGON 64

Halftime—Michigan St. 42-32. 3-Point Goals_Oregon 4-19 (Barthelemy 2-6, Bamba 1-3, Bittle 1-3, Tracey 0-2, Shelstad 0-5), Michigan St. 7-15 (Richardson 3-7, Carr 1-1, Fidler 1-1, Kohler 1-1, Akins 1-3, Fears 0-1, Holloman 0-1). Rebounds—Oregon 28 (Bittle 11), Michigan St. 33 (Carr 8). Assists—Oregon 10 (Bamba 5), Michigan St. 13 (Fears 5). Total Fouls—Oregon 21, Michigan St. 14. Fouled Out—Evans.