Game Details

• What: Michigan State at Oregon
• When: 9 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday
• Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon
• TV/Radio: FS1/Spartan Sports Network radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; SiriusXM Ch. 196 (MSU broadcast), 372 (Oregon broadcast)

Team Records and Rankings

• Michigan State (MSU): The Spartans are currently 16-2 overall and 6-1 in the Big Ten. They are ranked No. 10 in both the Associated Press and USA TODAY Coaches polls, No. 12 in the NET rankings used by the NCAA tournament selection committee, and No. 10 per the college basketball analytics site Kenpom.com.
• Oregon: The Ducks have a record of 8-10 overall and 1-6 in the Big Ten. They are unranked in both major polls. The Ducks are No. 101 in the NET rankings and No. 88 per Kenpom.

Betting Line

• MSU -9.5

Coaches

• Michigan State: Tom Izzo is in his 31st season as a head coach, all with the Spartans. He has a career record of 753-304.
• Oregon: Dana Altman has a career record of 788-415 in 37 seasons as an NCAA Division I head coach. He has spent 16 seasons with the Ducks, previously coaching at Creighton for 16 seasons, after shorter stints at Kansas State and Marshall and in the juco ranks.

Series History

• MSU leads the all-time series 4-2. They’ve only played three times since 1988, with MSU winning at the 2022 PK85 tournament in Portland, Oregon, and then twice last season, at Breslin Center and at the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. This is the first time the two programs have ever met in Eugene.

Projected Lineups

MSU:
– C (15) Carson Cooper (6-11) – 10.1
– PF (0) Jaxon Kohler (6-9) – 13.9
– SF (55) Coen Carr (6-5) – 11.0
– SG (99) Divine Ugochukwu (6-3) – 5.1
– PG (1) Jeremy Fears Jr. (6-2) – 13.1

Oregon:
– C (10) Kwame Evans (6-10) – 13.3
– PF (13) Sean Stewart (6-9) – 7.2
– SF (22) Devon Pryor (6-7) – 3.3
– G (5) Takai Simpkins (6-5) – 12.5
– PG (23) Wei Lin (6-4) – 6.6

MSU Update

The Spartans have won four straight games and now have the nation’s top defense. They are rated No. 1 in defensive efficiency by Kenpom.com and haven’t allowed a team to score more than 66 points this month. Penn State is the only high-major team to score more than 66 points against MSU this season. The Spartans are also No. 1 in defensive rebounding, allowing opponents second chances on just 21.5% of their shots. MSU is No. 8 nationally in offensive rebounding, with the Spartans hauling in 39.8% of their own missed shots. MSU ranks 55th in offensive efficiency.

Oregon Update

This has been a miserable season for Oregon and it keeps getting worse. It appears the Ducks will be without their two top players, guard Jackson Shelstad and forward Nate Bittle, for a while, perhaps the rest of the season in Shelstad’s case. Shelstad has been out since Dec. 28 with a hand injury and, Oregon coach Dana Altman said last weekend, Shelstad is likely to miss the remainder of the season. Bittle aggravated an ankle injury last week at Nebraska and could be out a month, too. Bittle (16.3 peg) and Shelstad (15.6) are the Ducks’ leading scorers, with Shelstad also averaging close to five assists per game. Even before the injuries, things weren’t going well. They’ve lost four straight but already had six losses before that.

Matchup Analysis

Oregon does one thing at a close to elite level — offensive rebound. The Ducks are 28th nationally in that category, via Kenpom. They’re just average at just about everything else, other than turnovers. They’re in the bottom 25% in college basketball both protecting the basketball and forcing opponents to cough it up.

The loss of Shelstad, who had 22 points against the Spartans a year ago in East Lansing, is devastating. Chinese import Wei Lin takes over a lot of the ball-handling duties. The loss of Bittle is equally brutal. He and junior Kwame Evans were a tough pairing. Evans is sort of like a more seasoned version of Cam Ward in some ways. Wing Takai Simpkins, an Elon transfer, is a capable scorer but will have to become more of a featured scorer for the Ducks to keep this season from spiraling.

Prediction

Oregon still has some good pieces, but this is nowhere near the NCAA tournament team the Ducks were projected to be. MSU should be able to take care of business in front of what might be a 50-50 crowd and perhaps a somewhat sparse crowd in Eugene.

Final Score Prediction

• MSU 78, Oregon 66