Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball's win over ...

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Tom Izzo addresses the crowd after tying Bob Knight for most Big Ten wins

Tom Izzo addresses the crowd after tying Bob Knight for most Big Ten wins After the Spartans win over Oregon in East Lansing.

1. We’ll be talking about that MSU second half for a long time

EAST LANSING – If Michigan State wins a Big Ten title — even if it doesn’t — Saturday’s second half will be talked about for a long time around these parts. 

The Spartans’ response. Freshman Jase Richardson’s performance. It’s one you wanted to be at. The first half, not so much.

Richardson scored 18 of his career-high 29 points over the final 20 minutes as MSU came back from 14 down at halftime to win 86-74. It was a dazzling performance by Richardson, a gritty and likely season-altering one by MSU’s team, which looked cooked at halftime, playing shorthanded without point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and forward Xavier Booker, both out sick.

Afterward — after Tom Izzo had tied Bobby Knight’s Big Ten wins record with 353 — an emotional Izzo took the mic at midcourt to address the crowd.

“I told my players (at halftime) you play for the players who played before you. You play for the fans,” Izzo said, pointing to his 2000 national championship team, back for the annual players alumni reunion. “That was not a pretty first half. I don’t really give a shit about the first half.”

As long as it doesn’t happen again, no one in the stands will, either. 

The second half was as forceful a response as you’ll ever see.

The Spartans outscored Oregon 50-24, out-rebounded the Ducks 24-10, didn’t allow a single second-chance point, while producing 14 themselves (on 10 offensive rebounds), and holding Oregon to 6-of-24 shooting, including 0-for-8 from the 3-point line.

Richardson’s hesitation crossover move before hitting a driving shot for a 78-68 lead seemed like the dagger with about 4 minutes to play. Just in case, he hit a fadeaway for an 80-70 lead a possession later.

“I mean, it feels great. “I kind of felt like I tapped into a little bit of my high school bag that I used to do,” Richardson said in the locker room. “But I mean, to get a bucket like that, a tough bucket in a close game, it does a lot. It provides a lot of energy for everybody — fans, teammates, coaches. Just having that moment, it was special.”

Richardson only took 13 shots (albeit a season-high), making nine of them, including 3-for-6 from deep, while hitting 8 of 9 free throws. Richardson had all five of his rebounds after halftime.

He wasn’t alone. Jaxon Kohler had nine of his 14 points after the break, along with half of his 12 rebounds. Tre Holloman had five assists after the break. And Jaden Akins, who had an uninspiring first half, had a team-best plus-minus of plus-30 in the second half, scoring seven of his 10 points, but more notably shutting down Oregon star guard Jackson Shelstad, who had 18 points in the first half and only four in the second, missing all three shots he took.

“Jaden had to reach down,” Izzo said. “We put him on (Shelstad who) killed us in the first half. … Jaden guarded him, where he came up with the energy, I don't know. I didn't even ask, didn't even want to ask, didn't care. But I'd say that was the best half of basketball this building has seen it many, many, many, many, many years.

“You talk about an ultimate team effort. The team was, the players on the floor, players on the bench, the players behind the bench (the 2000 championship team), the fans in the stands. That was a team. It was about an 16,000-team victory tonight, and for me, just doesn't get any better than that. … We found our way to fight through it. It said a lot about the character of our guys, with some people down (sick).”

2. Richardson shows MSU can lean on him as a scorer and shot-maker

Two things can be true at once: MSU needs starting point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. healthy and running the show — he’s a big part of the Spartans’ swagger and grit and steadiness — and the man who replaced him in the lineup, freshman Jase Richardson, is someone the Spartans should lean into for more shots and big shots.

Richardson came out of the gate with a flurry — with 10 quick points to help MSU to a 19-14 lead. But it was the second half when Richardson showed he’s ready for a bigger role, for the big moments, and that he needs to be on the court when the game is on the line, whatever happens.

It’ll be interesting to see what becomes MSU’s closing lineup, but it’s clear that MSU’s ceiling lies with Richardson more often being the focal point of the offense.

3. Massive win for MSU’s Big Ten title hopes

If that game hadn’t turned around, it seemed highly unlikely that MSU would win even a share of the Big Ten this season — not after three straight losses, not with what’s ahead on the schedule, not with Purdue and Michigan both ahead in the standings.

Now, if MSU beats Indiana on Tuesday night at home, the Spartans will be 20-4 and 11-2 in the Big Ten, no worse than still tied atop the conference, with Purdue and Michigan (also each with two losses) still with a game to play at the Breslin Center.

So much changed about this season with that win. 

"We had a team meeting," Richardson said. "We said we can't drop any home games, like that was one of our main goals this year. And just knowing how the game could have went, I mean, going on a three-game skid, it could do a lot for your title chances."

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.