As is tradition, Michigan State basketball began the month of February with a losing streak and a return trip home to East Lansing could spell the end of that skid.
The Spartans are 18-4 on the season and were a perfect 9-0 in the Big Ten before losing to UCLA and USC in back-to-back games on the road, but they'll get a chance to shake off these February woes against an Oregon team that has also fallen on some hard times.
The Ducks, on the other hand, have lost four straight games after starting the season 16-3 and looking like a serious Big Ten title threat. Dana Altman and Co. will be looking for an upset.
Michigan State needs a bounce-back on Saturday afternoon but will that happen? Let's get bold.
1. Coen Carr has Sportscenter's No. 1 play
Just last week, Coen Carr made Sportscenter's 'Top 10 plays' for dunking over a Minnesota defender on a perfectly-tossed alley-oop, earning the and-one. It was one of the best plays of the season for Carr who just so happens to be a walking human highlight reel.
On Saturday, he's not only going to have a Sportscenter-caliber dunk, but he's going to have the No. 1 play on the show with a ridiculous dunk that we'll all be talking about for days.
2. Jeremy Fears double-double
It always feels like during these bounce-back games after short skids that a leader steps up and takes the reins of the team, leading them to a big win with a signature performance.
We've seen it over the years from guys like Denzel Valentine, Cassius Winston, Miles Bridges, Joey Hauser, Malik Hall, and Tyson Walker. On Saturday, it's going to be Jeremy Fears. He'll step up, take that leadership role, and lead Michigan State to a huge performance on the back of his 10 assists and 12 points.
Not only will he be passing the ball at an elite level but he'll hit a three and drive the lane with ease on several occasions, either scoring at the rim or dishing to a wide-open teammate.
This will be a Fears legacy game.
3. Michigan State scores 85
After watching Michigan State average over 80 points over the first 20 games of the season, it was shocking to see the Spartans muster just 64 in a loss to USC and 61 in a loss to UCLA. Averaging just 62.5 points per game over the two-game road trip had to make the coaching staff sick.
If you know anything about Tom Izzo, he loves to live in the film room after losses and he usually harps on the shortcomings in recent struggles and one of those has been the half-court offense.
This team will come out much differently on Saturday afternoon, racing out to a big lead before the under-four timeout and then going on to score 43 in the first half and then another 42 in the second half to reach 85 points for the first time Jan. 15 against Penn State. Michigan State wins this one and snaps the skid, 85-71.