With their win against Indiana in front of a Hoosier heavy crowd, the Oregon Ducks advanced to the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals where the No. 1 seed Michigan State Spartans await. The Ducks got off to a slow start, which is not surprising for a team playing at 9 a.m. Oregon time, but found their groove on the defensive end and combined it with an impressive 49.1% shooting performance to pull out a double digit win. This extended the Ducks winning streak to eight and the only other team in the Big Ten who is close to that is Michigan State at seven.
This season the Spartans have been the epitome of a Tom Izzo team as they have become known for their physical style of play that emphasizes rebounding and forcing turnovers to create points on the other end. They have one of the best groups of guards in the country which includes freshman Jase Richardson who has had a breakout year and has been flying up NBA Draft boards as of late. This is the first time that Michigan State has been the top seed in the bracket since 2019 when they would go on to win it.
These two met in early February with the Spartans winning 86-74 in a game that was a tail of two halves. The Ducks held a 14 point lead at the break, but a 50 point second half by MSU was too much to handle. Richardson got his first start in that game and went for a career high 29 points.
In terms of March Madness, MSU is likely locked in as a 2 seed while Oregon will look to keep climbing up the ranks. This one has all the makings of an incredible conference tournament quarterfinal matchup in Indianapolis on Friday.
How to watch Oregon vs. Michigan State
- Date: Friday, March 14
- Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
- Venue: Gainbridge Fieldhouse
- How to Watch (TV): Big Ten Network
- Streaming: fubo TV
- Oregon record: 24-8 (12-8)
- Michigan State record: 26-5 (17-3)
Oregon vs. Michigan State odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Oregon +188
- Michigan State -230
Spread
- Oregon +5.5 (-110)
- Michigan State -5.5 (-110)
Total
- 143.5 (over -110/under -110)
Oregon injury report
- Dezdrick Lindsay, F: OUT (shoulder)
Michigan State injury report
- N/A
Michigan State and Oregon series history
- Michigan State all-time record vs. Oregon: 3-2
Oregon vs. Michigan State prediction
It is hard to point out any negatives in either of these teams with the way they have been playing as of late, and it makes it even harder to make a pick in a game with two exceptional college basketball coaches in the month of March. Oregon’s last loss came at the hands of Michigan State but with how these teams are playing, how whacky of a game that was, and this being the Big Ten tournament, anything can happen.
With 10 conference tournament titles in his career and several runs in the big dance, Dana Altman has shown to be one of the best in terms of getting teams ready in tournament play with quick turnarounds and for that reason I am going to take Oregon to pull off the upset.
In the last matchup Michigan State shot 44% from three, far better than their 30% average, and held Ducks big man Nate Bittle in check, but I do not see that happening again. Bittle will have a big game against the Spartans bigs and I like Jackson Shelstad to be his consistent scoring self. Oregon is more than capable of making a run in this bracket as well as the NCAA Tournament and there is just something about Dana and his Ducks flying under the radar in the month of March that I love.