3 Observations from MSU's Road Victory over Oregon
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Michigan State’s identity is starting to become clearer, and similarities to last year’s team that won the Big Ten are growing.
Like MSU did a lot last season, it dominated in the second half. The 10th-ranked Spartans were down by three at one point there, but surged late in a 68-52 victory over Oregon on Tuesday night.
Michigan State now stands at 17-2 overall and 7-1 during Big Ten play. Tuesday’s game against the Ducks was certainly not MSU’s best performance, but still coming out with a 16-point win on the road is what good teams do.
It didn’t seem like that is what the final result was going to be for most of the game. Here are three observations from it:
Oregon Challenges MSU’s Offense Early
The Spartans’ offense had trouble figuring out what to do earlier on in this game. Oregon did a good job preventing Michigan State from getting easy paint touches, and that forced MSU into a lot of jump shots late in shot clocks that did not inspire a lot of confidence.
Michigan State ended up making just three of its 12 three-point attempts during the first half. To make things weirder, two of those made shots were from Coen Carr, who entered with just seven made threes all season and a 20.6% mark from behind the arc. Carr made another three in the second half, marking his first career game with three made three-pointers.
It was like a switch flipped after the Ducks took a three-point lead with roughly 14 minutes to go. MSU ended up finishing the game on an extended 33-14 run and also made 14 of its final 17 shots from the field.
Carson Cooper had a big hand in that, finishing with a career-high 19 points. Carr also got some other buckets and seemed to really step up down the stretch.
Coop's Domination
Speaking of Cooper, he had one of the best games in his Michigan State career on Tuesday. His 19 points and seven rebounds came in a huge spot.
Star forward Jaxon Kohler had another off-night, only scoring two points with five rebounds in 20 minutes, also having to overcome some foul trouble in the first half.
The development of Cooper as a scorer this year is a bit remarkable. His mid-range jay is now one of the best on the team, and he’s continuing to be a physical presence inside. He blocked four shots on defense and also converted a second-chance opportunity on the other end.
Cooper played 33 minutes, the most on the team Tuesday and tying his own career-high. MSU was plus-26 when he was on the floor. When he was off for those seven other minutes, the Spartans were outscored by 10.
Trey Fort Provides a Spark
Carr deserves his own shout-out for the game he had, but it’s been known that type of game has been there for him now. Really, the person who improved their individual stock the most on Tuesday was Trey Fort.
Tom Izzo finally brought back out the lineup where Divine Ugochukwu was running point and Fort was one of the wingmen at one point in this game. Fort took advantage. His nine points on the night seem modest, but he only took five shots, and he made four of them.
These were important shots, too. Fort made a few mid-range jumpers at times in the first half where it felt like MSU wasn’t being given many opportunities by the Oregon defense.
He also hit a three-pointer about midway through the second half that made a one-point Spartan lead four. Those are the shots Izzo picked Fort up from Samford for.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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