Is anyone else still catching their breath? Michigan State basketball found itself down 14 at the half following a prayer of a buzzer-beater by the Ducks to extend the lead to 50-36.
The second half favored Michigan State emphatically.
No Jeremy Fears and no Xavier Booker? Seemingly no problem for the Spartans as they cruised to a massive second half and a big win at the Breslin Center to end their two-game skid, picking up a nice win over Oregon to improve to 19-4 and 10-2 in the Big Ten.
Here are some quick takes from the win.
1. Jase Richardson is a superstar
Jason Richardson's career-high at Michigan State was 25 points. He just witnessed his son, Jase Richardson, break his mark and drop a career-high 29 points of his own on Saturday afternoon.
With Fears missing Saturday's game, Richardson stepped up and looked like a superstar, scoring at will in the second half. He was the best player on the floor and it wasn't necessarily close. The freshman guard got his first start and didn't disappoint, finishing with those 29 points, five rebounds, an assist, and an emphatic block on 9-for-13 shooting.
We need to see him play 30 minutes per game at this point.
2. The team we saw in the second half will do big things
In the first half, Michigan State looked like a shell of itself and the team we saw in the losses to USC and UCLA but the second half was a much different story. Whatever Tom Izzo said at halftime worked as the Spartans came out with a quick 12-0 run to cut the lead to two and then finally took their first lead in what felt like hours at 64-62.
The Spartans locked down defensively and started hitting shots. Guys like Jaden Akins and Jaxon Kohler woke up and really contributed to the second-half blowout.
If we see this second-half performance more consistently, no one is beating this team down the stretch. That's a big if.
3. This team got tougher on Saturday
Adversity was staring Michigan State right in the face on Saturday as it was on a two-game losing streak with a solid Oregon team coming to town and the Spartans found out right before tip that Jeremy Fears nor Xavier Booker would be suiting up thanks to an outbreak of the flu.
And the Spartans got punched in the mouth, found themselves down 14 at the half, and then stormed back without two of the team's top players and won by 12.
Taking punch after punch without the team's top leader and starting point guard and staying focused and coming back in the second half to secure a huge win deserves major props. This team just improved its NCAA Tournament outlook.