Jase Richardson scored 17 points and No. 7 Michigan State used a 15-point run in the second half to spark a 74-64 victory over No. 23 Oregon in the first Big Ten tournament quarterfinal Friday in Indianapolis.
Jaden Akins posted 12 points, Jeremy Fears Jr. contributed 11 points and five assists and Coen Carr notched 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the top-seeded Spartans (27-5), who extended their winning streak to eight games and advanced to Saturday’s first semifinal against Wisconsin, which defeated UCLA later on Friday.
Nate Bittle paced eighth-seeded Oregon (24-9) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while TJ Bamba added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. The Ducks’ eight-game winning streak came to a close as guard Jackson Shelstad (eight points) missed all five of his 3-point tries as part of the team’s 4-of-19 showing on treys.
Buoyed by a partisan crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Michigan State broke to an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes. Senior-heavy Oregon settled in and took a 17-15 lead on Bamba’s coast-to-coast layup at the 11:21 mark.
After multiple lead changes and two missed dunks by Carr, the Spartans reeled off an 11-2 run to close out the half and claim a 42-32 halftime lead.
Michigan State turned seven offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points while Oregon didn’t grab any offensive rebounds.
Oregon got back into the game by forcing turnovers on four of Michigan State’s first five second-half possessions. When Keeshawn Barthelemy swished a 3-pointer in transition with 15:36 to go, the Ducks pulled within 44-43 and inspired Tom Izzo to call a timeout.
Izzo’s timeout had the desired effect as the Spartans scored the next six points, which forced Oregon’s Dana Altman to use a timeout — but it didn’t help. Michigan State’s Frankie Fidler cashed a 3-pointer and Carr hit a free throw to extend the lead to 54-43 with 12:02 to go.
Things got even worse for the Ducks after the media timeout. Richardson hit a 3-pointer while a teammate got fouled in the post. With the Spartans given another possession, the 6-foot-3 Richardson swished a rainbow stepback over 6-9 Kwame Evans to cap a 15-0 run that made it 59-43 at the 10:31 mark.
Oregon got as close as 71-64 on Bamba’s ferocious dunk with 53 seconds left, but Bamba inadvertently kneed Richardson in the back of the head two seconds later while trying to execute a run-and-jump on the Ducks’ full-court press.
The officials upgraded the foul to a flagrant 1, which allowed Richardson to hit two free throws and the Spartans to retain the ball.
–Field Level Media
