The two hottest teams in the Big Ten Tournament will face off.
The eight-seed Oregon Ducks, fresh off a resounding victory over the Indiana Hoosiers, take an eight-game streak against the Big Ten regular season champions.
The Michigan State Spartans ended the season with a similar run, as it took the final seven games — and eight of the last nine, which includes a victory over Oregon.
Everything that’s said about hot teams in March can be thrown out the window, as it’s now true for each side of the contest.
“They’re gonna play physical and very hard, so we know we have to bring that same energy,” Jackson Shelstad said.
The Ducks know all too well the challenges posed by the top seed in the tournament.
In February, Oregon traveled to East Lansing, and jumped out to a 14-point lead by the end of the first half.
“When we played Michigan State the first time, we played really hard in the first half, we had a good lead,” Jackson Shelstad said. “In the second half we let our foot off the gas and went on a run, so we know we have to play a full 40 minutes to compete with them.”
Shelstad referred to the measly 24-point second half that the Ducks produced against the Spartans. Michigan State pounced on that opportunity and turned the halftime deficit into a 12-point win of their own.
Michigan State’s electric freshman guard Jase Richardson led the way with an astounding 29 points.
Richardson is the team’s second-highest scorer — averaging 11.6 points per game — behind Jaden Akins, who averages 12.9.
The backcourt duo of Akins and Richardson suffocates opposing guards and makes them pay for weak defense. Teams often shoot themselves in the foot by committing too hard to one of the players, only for the other to wreck the game.
Oregon holds the advantage when it comes to neutral site games, as the Ducks haven’t lost a neutral site game and have played five this season. The Spartans are 3-2 in the same sample size in a neutral site.
Michigan State scores in droves and shuts down the opposing offense, as it scores 78.7 points and allows 67.0 per game. Oregon scores 76.6 and allows 70.8 per game, including the 86 let up to the Spartans in Feb.
It’s March now, and everything’s on the line. This is where Dana Altman’s squads like to be at this time of year.
The Ducks aim to make a major splash with a surprising upset in their second round matchup of their first Big Ten Tournament, and have the tools to get it done.
