Another day, another Quad 1 win for Michigan State basketball. Make that eight straight Quad 1 wins for the Spartans after "not playing anyone" for the first 1.5 months of Big Ten play, per opposing fans.
Now the Spartans have one of the best resumes in the country after yet another Quad 1 win, beating Oregon for the second time this season, 74-64.
What did we learn from yet another masterful -- for the most part -- performance against the Ducks?
1. There's something about Jase Richardson vs. Oregon
I don't know what it is, but Jase Richardson just craves Oregon. When he sees the Ducks on the schedule, he gets up for it. He lives, breathes, and eats hatred for the Ducks. OK, I made all of that up, but he does seem to love playing Dana Altman and the Ducks and that was evident once again on Friday.
The first time he faced Oregon this season, he scored a career-high 29 points in a 12-point win at the Breslin Center in his first career start with dazzling plays left and right.
This meeting? He dropped 17 points and had a solo five-point possession in the second half that really put the Ducks away. He started slow and shot just 4-for-13 from the floor and 6-for-10 from the line, but his presence was felt in a big way.
2. The bench is going to be a difference-maker in the tourney
Does Michigan State have the best bench in the country? You'd be hard-pressed to find a better one, especially since the Spartans are legitimately 10 deep and there are two more guys outside of that who were top-100 recruits in their own right.
On Friday, we saw the bench play one of its best games of the season, combining for 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor and 2-for-3 from deep. Coen Carr was a monster with 10 points, eight rebounds, and two steals, Carson Cooper and Tre Holloman each added six, and Frankie Fidler had five.
While Xavier Booker didn't score, he still gave the Spartans four solid minutes and was on the right side of the +/-.
This bench is going to wear teams down in the NCAA Tournament.
3. Time to snap out of this free throw slump
Over the past few weeks, one of the best free throw shooting teams in the country has experienced a bit of a slump and it's been somewhat concerning.
While this slump hasn't bitten the Spartans yet, the numbers are head-scratching:
vs. Purdue: 15-21 (71.4%)
at Michigan: 10-15 (66.7%)
at Maryland: 10-12 (83.3%)
vs. Wisconsin: 6-13 (46.2%)
at Iowa: 20-30 (66.7%)
vs. Michigan: 20-24 (83.3%)
vs. Oregon: 17-29 (58.6%)
For a team that was shooting around 80 percent for most of the season, ranking in the top five nationally, shooting less than 70 percent four times in the past seven games is not ideal. It's slightly concerning and Tom Izzo will likely get it figured out.
Free throws will be critical in crunch time in the NCAA Tournament and games are won and lost there. Michigan State needs to figure it out before it gets burned.