Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Recapping Spartans' Win Over Oregon
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00:00Hello, Spartan fans and welcome to this latest edition of the Michigan State Spartans Insider
00:07Podcast.
00:08I'm your reporter for Michigan State Spartans, Anas I, a champion coming to you after a Michigan
00:14State Spartans victory over Oregon, 86 to 74 win for Michigan State, an epic second
00:24half comeback for the Spartans who were down 14 at halftime.
00:30Oregon had scored 50 points in the first half, Michigan State answers with 50 of their own
00:37in the second half.
00:38The Ducks made 10 threes in that first half.
00:45More often than not, you're not going to be winning a game like that when the opponent
00:52is just lights out from deep, but you know, Michigan State also hurt itself in that first
00:59half just as it had done against USC and UCLA, committed nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
01:11And you know, I don't know where this team would have gone had it lost this game.
01:21I don't think fans probably don't want to think about what that outcome would have looked
01:27like or that scenario, you know, if they had dropped three in a row to start February.
01:36Because when you looked at this, when you looked ahead at this gauntlet that was going
01:41to be this month, you weren't necessarily thinking about the first two games, right?
01:47I mean, I'm sorry, first three games.
01:52You know, I think me personally, I was thinking they probably split the West Coast road trip.
02:02And regardless of how that went down, I thought for sure, I should say, going into today,
02:13I thought for sure that Michigan State would win this game against Oregon.
02:16At the time, they were over out West, you know, Oregon was struggling, but based on
02:24everything that had gone down with Michigan State out there, you know, based on Oregon's
02:31four game losing streak, I thought today was a sure thing, especially considering, you
02:37know, 2000 team was in the building and, you know, the Big Ten all time record was
02:46on the line for Coach Izzo, I thought this team was going to answer very positively.
02:59And that first half they didn't, that second half they played as well as they could have
03:05thought it was probably their best second half of the season.
03:10And of course, you got to give credit to Jace Richardson, stepped up, was put in the starting
03:17lineup for the first time all year for Jeremy Fears, who was out with an illness.
03:24Spartans were also without Xavier Booker, also out with an illness.
03:30And even so, just had one of their best wins of the year, obviously wasn't a complete game
03:39by any means, because it really was a tale of two halves, essentially two different games,
03:46you know.
03:49But Michigan State prevailed and, you know, they outscored Oregon 50 to 24 in that second
04:01half.
04:02They themselves made four threes in that second half after making four in the first half.
04:10Three of their three-pointers were from Jace, another three were from Trey Howlman,
04:21who finished with 13.
04:27And then Jackson Kohler made a three, he had a double-double, was the team's leading rebounder
04:33with 12.
04:35Game high rebound total at 14 points.
04:47And CJ Naken said 10, he made a three.
04:55And yeah, another very collective team effort.
05:06Okay, looking at the stat sheet here.
05:11Carson Cooper had a solid outing, 9.6 rebounds.
05:18You know, going back to Trey Howlman, had a game-high seven assists, which was very needed
05:25without Jeremy Fears' presence, you know, floor general of his team.
05:35Trey really stepped up in that department.
05:39But very, very, very solid win for Michigan State.
05:47When you look at that second half, just really turned things around, only committed,
05:54I think it was just four, yeah, four turnovers in that,
06:01or three, just three turnovers in that second half after committing nine in the first half.
06:05So, gotta give a lot of credit to Michigan State for this win.
06:18They put themselves in a really good position now after dropping those two games out west.
06:24The host, Indiana, and on Tuesday, unfittingly, Tom Izzo has a chance to break the Big Ten record
06:34and pass Bobby Knight, the legendary Hoosiers coach, against his team.
06:42So, you couldn't write it any better if it does play out that way.
06:48And, yeah, I mean, this team, that second half, I can't say enough about it.
06:58They really looked like the best team in the Big Ten.
07:03And, you know, Oregon, they lived and they died by the three.
07:12You know, they played really well that first half, and, you know, credit to them,
07:19did so in front of a hostile Breslin Center crowd that, you know,
07:28it's probably the toughest place to play in the Big Ten.
07:32But Michigan State was really good.
07:35It's probably the toughest place to play in the Big Ten.
07:39But Michigan State was really able to fuel off the energy the crowd gave it.
07:45And, yeah, I think this will be a big turning point in the season for Michigan State.
07:57A team that had won 13 straight, was on an extreme high.
08:02Them faced quite the low after dropping two in L.A.
08:08So, you know, when you talk about this team needing to get back on track with a win today,
08:18I mean, this was perfect fashion to do it.
08:26And, I mean, perfect, I guess the perfect fashion would have been to win it.
08:30But, I mean, that's tough to do in college basketball,
08:37and it's especially tough to do in the Big Ten.
08:40But, you know, this team got it done, and, yeah, I mean,
08:52there's not much more I can say about it.
08:54Played really well without their starting line.
08:58Without their starting point guard, without Xavier Booker,
09:04and Jace Richardson in front of his dad, in front of his dad's teammates,
09:11you know, who have known Jace since he was born.
09:15I mean, it's pretty special.
09:20Very cool to watch.
09:22Very cool experience.
09:24And they'll be back at the Breslin on Tuesday when they host Indiana.
09:31So, another chance to remain undefeated at home this year where they've played very well.
09:42And we will be there, and we will be bringing you postgame coverage from that.
09:49And, yeah, I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend.
09:55Super Bowl tomorrow.
09:59Hope you enjoy that.
10:00Hope you enjoy the week ahead as well.
10:04So, thank you, everyone.
10:05Have a great night.