Michigan State seeks its fifth straight double-digit victory when it faces short-handed Oregon on Tuesday night in Big Ten play at Eugene, Ore.
The No. 12 Spartans have won their past four games by an average of 19.3 points, including Saturday’s 80-63 win over Washington in the first contest of a two-game swing to the Pacific Northwest.
Michigan State (16-2, 6-1 Big Ten) has been receiving strong play from point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. He had 19 points and five assists against the Huskies and is averaging 17.8 points and 7.5 assists over the last six games.
“I kind of told the guys a little bit before in the hotel that defense travels,” Fears said. “Sometimes shot-making is up and down, you don’t really know. But as long as you guard, you can always give yourself a chance.”
Fears ranks second on the Spartans in scoring (13.1 points per game) and ranks second nationally entering Sunday’s play with an average of 8.6 assists.
The Michigan State depth figures to come in handy against Oregon (8-10, 1-6), which is down two starters.
The Spartans posted a 31-7 edge in bench points in the victory over Washington.
Kur Teng made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in his 20 minutes as a reserve.
“We just want to bring the energy at all times, whether that’s early on or later in the game,” Teng said of the bench. “That’s kind of our job, and that’s what we’re gonna continue to do.”
Leading score Jaxon Kohler (13.9 points per game) had just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting against the Huskies. Third-leading scorer Coen Carr (11.0) had just six points.
“I’ll be honest with you. That was a big but strange win for us,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Some of our best players really struggled.”
Oregon has lost four consecutive games after dropping an 81-71 home decision to No. 4 Michigan on Saturday.
The Ducks will again be without their top two players in big man Nate Bittle (team-high 16.3 points per game) and guard Jackson Shelstad (15.6).
Bittle (foot) was hurt during a 90-55 loss to No. 8 Nebraska last Tuesday and will sit out his second consecutive contest. He is slated to miss at least another month. Shelstad (hand) will sit for the sixth straight game and Oregon coach Dana Altman said Saturday that he’s likely done for the season.
With more minutes available, Sean Stewart took advantage to score a career-high 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grab eight rebounds against the Wolverines. The splurge raised his season averages to 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds.
“We had a team meeting with just the players, and we basically said everybody’s got to come together — next man up,” Stewart said of the approach. “Nobody’s gonna play less hard against us because Nate and Jackson are out. We just had to play harder, and I think in the first half we did that.
“We’ve just got to put a full game together, and I think we showed ourselves that we can play with anybody when we do that,” Stewart continued. “That’s just the mindset we have to have the rest of the season.”
Altman liked that the short-handed Ducks put up a big fight against one-loss Michigan.
“I can’t fault the effort,” Altman said. “The guys played hard, especially in the first half. I thought we ran outta gas. … Some good things to draw from. Disappointed with the result; not disappointed with the effort.”
Kwame Evans Jr. scored 18 points against Michigan. He averages 13.3 points and team-best 7.5 rebounds. Takai Simpkins (12.5) also is a double-digit average scorer.
The Spartans defeated the Ducks twice last season — once at East Lansing, the other in the Big Ten Conference tournament quarterfinals. This is the seventh all-time meeting but the first in Eugene. Michigan State is 4-2 against the Ducks.
