The Michigan State Spartans’ season hit a few bumps in the road when the team traveled to the West Coast. Taking on both USC and UCLA and walking away with zero victories, the Spartans will look to erase their two-game skid by taking a highly anticipated matchup against the Oregon Ducks.
The Ducks hold a 16-7 record heading into the clash with MSU, but lucky for the Spartans, Oregon has struggled when facing other Big Ten opponents. Holding a 5-7 conference record, MSU’s two blemishes against Big Ten opponents have not slowed it down.
If the Spartans look to right the wrong of losing two straight, they will have to stop two Oregon players in particular. The first is senior center Nate Bittle. Bittle leads the program in average points per game (12.7), rebounds (7.2) and blocks (1.9).
Bittle has been a part of the Ducks program since his freshman year and is having his best season yet. The senior center has played and started all 25 games for Oregon this season and has been a huge threat within and beyond the paint.
Holding a field goal percentage of 50.9 and a 31% success rate in 3-point shots. Coming off of a 16-point effort in the loss to MSU’s bitter rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, Bittle will be a player to keep off the scoreboard if MSU wishes to end this losing streak.
Bittle’s counterpart this season in point scoring has been sophomore guard Jackson Shelstad. Shelstad averages 12.5 points per game and is the type of shooter that can hurt you at any given point when the ball is in his hands.
Shelstad dropped 18 points against the Wolverines in 37 minutes on the court. Both Shelstad and Bittle average 29.4 minutes combined on the court, as Shelstad leads the charge. MSU will likely have its moments to take the lead, but will need to hold it as Shelstad or Bittle rest on the bench.
MSU will need its leading rebounder, junior forward Jaxon Kohler, to come ready to play on Saturday, snatching all the missed shots to keep momentum on the Spartans side. In terms of scoring, if the Spartans’ losing streak is meant to end, MSU will need much stronger scoring outings throughout its lineup
