Two teams trying to stop losing streaks meet in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday afternoon when No. 9 Michigan State hosts unranked Oregon.
The Spartans (18-4, 9-2 Big Ten) bring a perfect 11-0 home record into the game despite back-to-back losses in Los Angeles to Southern California on Saturday and UCLA on Tuesday.
Before the defeats, Michigan State had a 13-game winning streak that covered all of December and January. The Spartans had not previously lost consecutive games this season.
A key for Oregon likely will be strong defense. Michigan State scored a season-low 61 points at UCLA, and the Spartans are 1-4 when scoring fewer than 70 points. They also trailed at the half of all four losses.
Michigan State is led in scoring by Jaden Akins at 13.5 points per game, the only player in double figures. Jaxon Kohler is the top rebounder at 7.6 per game.
The Spartans have struggled with 3-point shooting, making only 28.7 percent of attempts.
Turnovers also were an issue against UCLA, as the Spartans turned the ball over 16 times yet lost by only two points, 63-61.
“We’re turning the ball over in ways that we haven’t all year, just stupid things,” center Carson Cooper told the Detroit Free Press. “And we’re all guilty of it. Throwing the ball out of bounds and just miscues and all that.”
Oregon has bigger problems. The Ducks (16-7, 5-7) have lost four straight, with one against a Top 25 team, No. 24 Michigan on Wednesday. Three of the losses have been close, but Oregon has been forced to play from far behind to get back into games.
The Ducks were as high as No. 9 in the rankings, but they have fallen out of the Top 25 with leading scorer Nate Bittle (12.7 ppg) averaging just 8.3 points over the losing streak. Bittle did score 16 points in the 80-76 loss at Michigan.
Slow starts on offense, missed defensive rotations and four straight games shooting less than 46 percent from the field have hurt the Ducks.
“We’ve narrowed it down to a six-week season here if we’re not careful, and we got to get better,” coach Dana Altman said.
