Carson Cooper’s career game lifts No. 10 Michigan State past Oregon
Carson Cooper scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead No. 10 Michigan State to a 68-52 victory over short-handed Oregon on Tuesday night in Big Ten play at Eugene, Ore.
Coen Carr added 15 points and eight rebounds and Jeremy Fears Jr. had 14 points, as the Spartans (17-2, 7-1 Big Ten) recorded their fifth straight double-digit victory. Michigan State has won by an average of 18.6 points during the streak.
Cooper also collected seven rebounds and had a career-best four blocked shots for the Spartans, who swept a two-game trip to the Pacific Northwest. Michigan State beat Washington 80-63 on Saturday.
Takai Simpkins had 15 points and seven rebounds as the Ducks (8-11, 1-7) lost their fifth straight game.
Oregon continues to play without its top two players in big man Nate Bittle (foot) and guard Jackson Shelstad (hand). The latter might miss the rest of the season.
The Ducks made 39.2% of their shots and hit 7 of 20 from behind the arc.
The Spartans, who led by as many as 18, shot a stellar 57.1% from the field, including 7 of 20 from 3-point range. Michigan State shot 68% from the field (17 of 25) in the second half.
Oregon led 38-35 after a basket by Ege Demir with 14:01 remaining in the game.
Michigan State answered with seven straight points. Trey Fort scored the last five as the Spartans took a 42-38 with 11:02 left in the contest.
Wei Lin drained a 3-pointer to pull Oregon within one. However, Cooper scored back-to-back hoops to start an 11-1 push as Michigan State took a 53-42 advantage with 7:17 left. Carr ended the spurt with consecutive baskets.
Kwame Evans Jr. made a jumper for the Ducks before Cooper and Divine Ugochukwu scored and Fears drilled a 3-pointer, as the Spartans increased their lead to 60-44 with 5:19 to play en route to closing it out.
Cooper scored nine first-half points to lead the Spartans to a 28-26 halftime advantage. Simpkins had 10 points in the half for the Ducks.
Cooper made two free throws to wrap up an early 11-0 run to give Michigan State a 13-4 lead. Oregon answered with eight straight points.
The Ducks later inched ahead at 22-21 on Luke Johnson's layup with 6:39 remaining in the half. Fort put the Spartans back ahead with a jumper over two minutes later.