After blanking on both of their West Coast games a year ago, MSU responded and now sits at third place in the conference. 

“I thought they played really well against us,” Izzo said. “We got a lot of work to do, but if you go on this road trip, it's not easy. As we all know, college guys aren't ready to handle it like pro guys.”

The two wins bring the Spartans’ record to 17-2 (7-1). Now owning the nation's number one defense per KenPom, MSU was able to suffocate any attack from Oregon and consistently responded in transition. It was an MSU road trip, through and through. 

Against Washington, Jeremy Fears Jr. continued to assert his dominance in transition and controlled the game's pace. He shot 6-9 from the field and hit 7-of-8 free throws for 19 points as the Spartans' leading scorer. 

A few days later in Eugene, the big men took over. Carson Cooper scored a career high 19 points on 8-of-10 from the field. The 6-foot-11 senior commanded the paint unlike he has all season. When fed the ball down low, he played with an aggressiveness that made Oregon challenge him intensely. When Oregon brought the pressure, though, he was able to kick it out for an open shot on the perimeter.

One of the most reliable shooters Tuesday night, Coen Carr netted 15 points on 3-for-5 shooting from the 3-point line. This was the most 3-pointers Carr has made in a single game in his career, and it came at the perfect time for a shooter who had all but lost his mojo from deep over the past handful of games.

In the new year, Carr was 1-for-10 from 3-point range before heading west. Over the past two games, he has shot 50% from deep.

Izzo said it was his defense and authority on the boards that gave him the confidence on the offensive end.

“He made a couple threes, so we're all excited, but what he did is he played pretty damn good defensively, and he got some rebounds,” Izzo said. "Yeah, I could play the best, even though he didn't start out great. I thought Cohen was second best. We got some out of Trey, but Jeremy the second half was great, but Colin, what he did, okay, he made a couple threes, so we're all excited, but what he did is he played pretty damn good defensively, and he got some rebounds."

Though the scores seem to tell two wildly different stories, there were many parallels in the two games. MSU got off to hot starts in both, taking a 21-13 lead against UW and a 13-4 lead facing the Ducks. 

After a trio of scoreless games, Senior Trey Fort put up 12 points over the two games with a 4-for-5 performance at Oregon. Fort found his way into open space and played a smoother brand of basketball without forcing bad shots as he had in the past. 

Through MSU’s first 17 games, Jaxon Kohler averaged 14.4 points and 10. 1 rebounds a game as the team’s leading scorer and facilitator down low. However, in the last two games, the senior big man combined for 9 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Against Oregon, he was a non-factor.

Kohler picked up two fouls in the first half, opening a spot for him on the bench. In the second half, he couldn’t get anything going and missed high-percentage shots in the paint. On the other end of the court, he couldn’t move his feet fast enough to keep up with the shifty Oregon guards when they drove to the basket and allowed a few too many scores. 

For the past year and a half, Kohler has been one of the Spartans' most consistent players, and he’s shown all season he can bounce back after bad stretches. The past two games were the first all season in which Kohler scored less than 10 points.

Against Maryland this weekend, Kohler and Cooper will have a chance to reestablish their presence down low, with only one player on the Terrapins’ roster listed at 6-foot-10 or taller: Aleks Alston (6-foot-10). Izzo said Kohler isn’t getting the ball enough for good looks in the post.

“He's not a slump or anything,” Izzo said. “We just haven't gotten him any shots, and he hasn't been in the game enough because of foul trouble.”

MSU will take on Maryland at home at noon Saturday, Jan. 24, with the game broadcast on CBS. Maryland ranks 152nd in the NET, 115th in KenPom and 16th in the Big Ten.

At 1-6 in conference play, Maryland is off to its worst Big Ten start since the 2021–22 season.