Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo directs his team against Oregon in the first half in Eugene, Ore., Tuesday. (AP Photo/Thomas Boyd)

MSU wins

5th straight

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Carson Cooper scored 19 points and No. 10 Michigan State won its fifth straight game, 68-52 over struggling Oregon on Tuesday night.

Coen Carr added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans (17-2, 7-1 Big Ten), whose lone conference loss this season was to undefeated Nebraska.

Takai Simpkins scored 15 points for the Ducks (8-11, 1-7), who have lost five straight.

The Ducks were without two of their biggest playmakers. Senior center Nate Bittle was sidelined after injuring his ankle in a 90-55 loss at Nebraska last week. The 7-footer, who was averaging 16.3 points, is expected to be out for a month.

Jackson Shelstad, who was averaging 15.6 points, has not played since he injured his hand in a game against Omaha on Dec. 28 and appears likely to miss the rest of the season.

Michigan State, which was coming off an 80-63 win at Washington on Saturday, jumped out to a 13-4 lead, but the Ducks responded, pulling in front 22-21 on Luke Johnson’s layup. The Spartans held a 28-26 lead at the break.

The Spartans began to pull away midway through the second half, taking a 53-42 lead on Carr’s layup with 7:17 left. Michigan State led by 18 points down the stretch.

Michigan State hosts Maryland on Saturday.

Wolverines

top Hoosiers

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Elliot Cadeau scored 10 of his 19 points in the opening minutes of the first half and Yaxel Lendeborg had 13 of 15 points in the second half, leading No. 3 Michigan to an 86-72 win over Indiana on Tuesday night.

The Wolverines (17-1, 7-1 Big Ten) led by 17 points midway through the first half and by 25 points in the second half of a game that wasn’t in doubt after a one-sided start.

The Hoosiers (12-7, 3-5) began by missing 14 of 15 shots and finished with a fourth straight loss under first-year coach Darian DeVries.

Michigan entered the game ranked No. 2 in field-goal defense, holding opponents to 36% shooting, and Lendeborg was closely guarding the Hoosiers on the perimeter and helping on the interior to lead a swarming scheme.Michigan hosts Ohio State on Friday night.

Bellinger stays

with Yankees

(AP) — Cody Bellinger has agreed to stay with the New York Yankees on a five-year, $162.5 million contract. The deal includes a $20 million signing bonus and a no-trade provision.

Bellinger can opt out after the 2027 or 2028 seasons, with the opt outs pushed back a year if there is a full-season work stoppage in 2027.

Acquired from the Chicago Cubs in 2024, Bellinger hit .272 with 29 homers last year. He played 149 games, mostly in the outfield.

The two-time All-Star and former MVP has a .261 average over eight seasons with the Dodgers, Cubs, and Yankees.

Judge sides

with Duke

(AP) — A judge has granted Duke’s request for a temporary restraining order blocking quarterback Darian Mensah from enrolling to play football at another school until a court hearing set for early February.

The school filed a lawsuit Monday in Durham County Superior Court against Mensah seeking to block his efforts to transfer and reach a contract with another school to play next season. The complaint came three days after Mensah reversed his announced plan to return to the Blue Devils after leading them to the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

The order remains in effect until a hearing scheduled for Feb. 2.

WNBA eyes

May 8 start

NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA will begin its season on May 8, assuming the league and the players’ union can come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Teams will play 44 games over a five-month period with a 17-day break for the FIBA World Cup in early September. The league said last year that with the World Cup this season they would keep the schedule at 44 games despite adding two new teams in Portland and Toronto.

The WNBA will go on break from Aug. 31-Sept. 16 for the World Cup, which will be played in Berlin this year. Teams will have a handful of games after that tournament finishes with playoffs set to begin on Sept. 27.

McIlroy sees

no LIV deal

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy believes the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have grown “too far apart” to form an alliance and bring a splintered sport back together.

McIlroy says “I just don’t see a world where it can happen at this point.”

McIlroy was speaking ahead of the Dubai Desert Classic on the European tour. Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour from LIV has brought into sharper focus the fading hopes of any form of deal being struck by top officials on the two circuits.

Storm upsets

Schedule

(AP) — One year after a winter storm forced postponements across major U.S. sports, another weather system is prompting a reshuffling of games this week and threatened to wreak havoc on the weekend schedule.

A storm that meteorologists say could rival the damage of a major hurricane is expected to bring snow, ice and frigid temperatures from New Mexico to New England starting Friday. Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers canceled their annual Fan Fest event scheduled for Saturday. The Sun Belt and American Athletic conferences moved the start times on some men’s and women’s basketball games.