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 either No. 18 Wisconsin or 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 on 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.
Oregon Ducks vs. Michigan State Spartans Highlights
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
The Spartans beat Wisconsin and lost to UCLA in their only meetings this season. Oregon will find out its next matchup on Selection Sunday.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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