Down Booker, Fears Jr Due to Illness Spartans Rally Around Jase & Defense in 2nd Half

**BRESLIN CENTER- East Lansing, MI**

With an illness taking out Xavier Booker and Jeremy Fears Jr. from action, Coach Izzo found his team “Strength in Numbers,” suddenly missing depth, athleticism and a pair of key pieces of this Big Ten run. This was a weekend of tremendous emotion having hosted the 25th anniversary of his team, who were on hand with countless former teammates and family members to share stories and as always, give back to the current team in the form of advice as they build up for the challenging stretch ahead. Oregon was amongst a decent skid and seemingly were struggling for answers and it did not start well…at all.

The first half was merciless as Oregon hit a buzzer-beater 3 to hit 50 points at the break, up 50-36, the largest deficit MSU faced all game and just like that *finger snaps* MSU was reeling from a first 20-minute ambush. It was led by Jackson Shelstead who was red hot early with multiple 3’s and 18 points at the half (finishing with 22). After a back-and-forth through the first half, Oregon took control the final 9-10 minutes and MSU seemingly had no answer. Turnovers were plaguing MSU along with poor defense and Oregon getting several open looks. Then, MSU dug down and found that gear that fueled the 2000 team, to victory.

“You talk about an ultimate team effort. The team was players on the floor, players on the bench, the players behind the bench and the fans in the stands.” pic.twitter.com/c72ciVA1Fq

— Michigan State Men’s Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) February 9, 2025

Jase Richardson, starting in his first ever game in front of his dad and NCAA Champion Jason Richardson, put the team on his back in route a career-high 29 points (9-13 FG, 3-6 3-pt and 8-9 FTs) to go along with 5 rebounds and an assist and block and a whale of a second-half comeback. Jaxon Kohler recorded a double-double tallying 14 points and 12 rebounds with Tre Holloman pouring in 13 points (4-12 FG, 3-7 3-pt), 5 rebounds and 7 assists but did finish with 4 turnovers. Jaden Akins finished with 10 points on 4-11 shooting. Carson Cooper contributed 9 points (7-8 FTs) and 6 rebounds. They chipped away and by the half-way point of the second half, it was their turn to take control with full momentum and dominated the final 13 minutes and ended on a 30-12 run in convincing fashion. Once they took a 6-point lead (70-64), they would push it to 10 and cruise to their 10th conference win of the year.

It took some serious gut check time and commitment to the changes made in the locker room, but the players restored confidence as to their true ceiling and ability and got the crowd back into it, making the Breslin Center feel electric in front of a sold-out crowd. Jase at one point, turned a defender and then burned him into the lane with incredible control to lay in. It had a special feel as the win tied Bob Knight for the Big Ten All-Time Wins leader as they sit at 353 apiece.

Tom Izzo has a chance now to break the record against of all teams, Indiana.

Currently, the Hoosiers are in turmoil of their own as Coach Woodson has apparently asked to depart at year’s end and lurch the Hoosiers into a national search.

TEAM STATS:

Spartans: 27-54 FG (50.0%), 8-18, 3-PT (44.4%), 24-27 FT (88.9%)

Ducks: 24-61 FG (39.3%), 10-27, 3-PT (37.0%), 16-23 FT (69.6%)

Record/Rankings & More:

19-4 (10-2, T1st-Big Ten) Rankings: #11 AP / #11 Coaches Poll **Updated-time of writing is prior to 2/10 games**

Updated KenPom- Off: 26th / Def: 11th. Adjusted Tempo: 122nd. SOS Net Rtg: 47th (8.63)

Updated Bart Torvik- ADJOE: 31st/ADJDE: 11th / EFF.FGD%: 45.6 (16th) / ORBD %: 37.1 (13th) & DRBD %: 25.8 (22nd)

Other Metrics: KPI (18th), ESPN SoR (15th), ESPN BPI (17th), T-Rank: 16th — #5 in FT % (80.3%), #9 in FTM/game (18.7) and sit 16th with 5.2 bpg

FULL KenPom Stats: https://kenpom.com/index.php

FULL Bart Torvik Stats: https://barttorvik.com/#

FULL T-Rank Stats: https://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2025/net-teamsheets-plus#google_vignette

NEXT ON THE CLOCK:

Indiana Hoosiers, Tuesday 2/11 at 9:00pm EST on Peacock