The No. 1-seeded Michigan State men's basketball team kicked off Big Ten Tournament play on Friday afternoon with a quarterfinals matchup against the No. 8-seeded Oregon Ducks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Fresh off of winning a Big Ten regular season title, the Spartans kept the momentum going in the conference tournament, and defeated the Ducks by a final score of 74-64.

With the victory, MSU won its eighth game in a row and improved to 27-5 overall on the 2024-2025 season. Oregon's winning streak ends at eight games, and the loss drops the Ducks to 24-9 overall on the campaign.

Michigan State got off to an 8-0 start in Friday's contest. A three-pointer from forward Jaxon Kohler opened the scoring, followed by a free throw from freshman guard Jase Richardson, a second-chance layup from center Szymon Zapala and a tough bucket from point guard Jeremy Fears Jr.

Oregon finally got on the board with baskets from guard TJ Bamba and center Nate Bittle. Following a jumper by guard Jaden Akins, the Spartans led the Ducks 10-4 at the first media timeout.

The Ducks went on a 13-5 run in the next four-plus-minute stretch, erasing the Spartans' lead and taking a 17-15 advantage with 11:21 left to play in the opening half, following a driving layup by Bamba. Akins then got some momentum back for MSU, drilling a 3-pointer with 10:48 on the clock, and following that up with a layup at the 10:14-mark to give the Spartans a 20-17 lead.

The two squads continued to go back and forth and the game was tied 24-24 at the under-eight-minute media timeout with 7:35 remaining in the first half. After Oregon forward Brandon Angel completed a three-point play the old-fashioned way to give the Ducks a one-point lead, a rare 3-pointer by Michigan State forward Coen Carr put the Spartans back up 27-25 with 7:16 remaining before halftime.

Bamba immediately answered Carr's triple with one of his own. Michigan State ripped off the next four points, with a pull-up jumper from Fears and a second-chance layup by center Carson Cooper. Oregon guard Ra'Heim Moss scored a basket from the paint, and then MSU guard Tre Holloman hit a pair a free throws to give the Spartans a 33-30 lead with 3:30 left in the first half.

A momentum-shifting play by Akins in which he stole the basketball and slammed it home on the other end put the Spartans up by five points with 2:47 left to go before the break.

A hookshot by Bittle cut the Spartans' lead to 35-32, but that was the last bucket for Oregon in the opening half. The Spartans closed the first frame on a 7-0 run, with free throws from Carr, a second-chance 3-pointer by Richardson and a second-chance hookshot by Cooper.

Michigan State lead by double-digits at halftime, 42-32. Oregon had nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play and gave up 13 second-chance points on seven offensive rebounds allowed. Meanwhile, the Ducks did not grab a single offensive rebound in the first half.

The Ducks came out strong in the second half. Oregon began the half on an 11-2 run, thanks to six points from Bittle, two from Bamba and a 3-pointer by guard Keeshawn Barthelemy.

The Ducks cut the Spartans' lead to just a single point, 44-43, with 15:36 left to play in the game.

However, it was all Michigan State after that. The Spartans put together a 15-0 run.

MSU forward Frankie Fidler put a stop to Oregon's run with a turnaround jumper. After that, a dunk by Carr, a layup by Kohler and a 3-pointer by Fidler quickly pushed MSU's lead back out to 10 points at 53-43. A 3-pointer and a step-back jumper by Richardson gave the Spartans a 59-43 lead with 10:31 left to play.

The Ducks finally ended the Spartans' scoring onslaught with a pair of free throws by forward Kwame Evans Jr. and a layup by guard Jadrian Tracey. At that point, Michigan State led 59-47 with 9:45 remaining on the clock.

Oregon continued to battle, and the two teams traded buckets in the next few minutes, but the Ducks weren't able to cut Michigan State's lead to single-digits until the 4:30-mark, as a bucket in the paint from Bittle made the score 66-57, with the Spartans' advantage.

A dunk by Carr pushed MSU's lead back out to 10 points with 3:27 to go. After a free throw from Evans, a layup by Akins on the other end and a layup by Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad, Michigan State led 70-60.

Another layup by Shelstad cut the Spartans' lead to just eight points, and Bamba added a dunk later, but free throws by Richardson, Fears and Akins sealed the win for the Spartans at 74-64.

Richardson led the Spartans with 17 points, while Akins scored 12 points and Fears chipped in 11 points and five assists. Carr added 10 points and led Michigan State with eight rebounds.

Oregon's Bittle led all scorers with 22 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds, while Bamba scored 11 points.

Michigan State shot 46% from the floor overall (25-for-54) and 47% from 3-point range (7-for-15). Oregon shot 47% overall (25-for-53), but just 21% from behind the arc (4-for-19). The Spartans out-rebounded the Ducks 36-29. Oregon had 15 turnovers to MSU's 12.

Michigan State will play the winner of the Wisconsin versus UCLA game in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

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