Michigan State guard Divine Ugochukwu will miss the remainder of the season due to a left foot injury, head coach Tom Izzo announced Friday.

Per Izzo, Ugochukwu will undergo surgery next week after sustaining the injury during the first half of the 10th-ranked Spartans 76-73 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday.

The setback was the second in a row for Michigan State (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten), which hosts No. 5 Illinois (20-3, 11-1) on Saturday in East Lansing, Mich. The Fighting Illini have won 12 in a row.

Ugochukwu averaged 5.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 22 games (12 starts) this season with the Spartans. He transferred from Miami during this past offseason.

The loss of Ugochukwu leaves Michigan State with Jeremy Fears, Kur Teng, Trey Fort and Harvard transfer Denham Wojcik at the guard position.

–Field Level Media

The last time the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Houston Rockets, the teams turned in an epic season opener.

The Thunder ultimately came out ahead 125-124 in double overtime Oct. 21.

The teams meet again Saturday in Oklahoma City.

The Rockets have dropped back-to-back games after winning five of their previous six, leaving Ime Udoka frustrated with his team’s performance in home losses to Boston and Charlotte.

“Teams basically looking like they’re coming in and playing harder and they’re looking at that mentality that, ‘If we play harder than them, we’ll beat them,'” Udoka said after Houston’s 109-99 loss to the Hornets on Thursday. “There’s no fight, there’s no aggression, just blank stares.

“In the past, if we didn’t win or weren’t going to win, at least we would get into it, do something about it. Right now, it’s the same mistakes over and over.”

Udoka said he needed to see a spark from the entire team, not looking specifically to leaders like Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun to fix the team’s recent issues.

“The guys that are here have done it for the last few years,” Udoka said. “It’s not one guy, it’s the group in general. The players started the year doing it and, until recently, at least had that. It’s not like one guy’s going to do it, it’s collective.”

Sengun, who scored 39 in that season-opening loss to Oklahoma City, shot just 36.3% from the field over the last six games after shooting 51.8% through his first 37 games of the season.

Udoka said it wasn’t an issue of shot selection.

“Decent shots, the shots he’s made since I’ve been here. Getting good looks there,” Udoka said. “That’s not the problem. Players allow their offense to dictate their game in general and … give something away on defense when you’re not as engaged because you’re not scoring. It’s not just an Alperen thing.”

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault hasn’t worried about his team’s effort recently, especially in Wednesday’s 10-point loss in San Antonio.

The Thunder stayed within striking distance of the Spurs despite having none of their normal five starters available and dressing only eight players.

“They gutted it out and played hard, played their minutes hard,” Daigneault said. “There’s no moral victories there but there are things we can take from everything. … But certainly, we’re not content.”

One thing Daigneault said his team took from the game was working on Jaylin Williams’ conditioning.

Williams, who missed much of December and early January due to injury, scored 24 points in a career-high 40 minutes Wednesday.

“I was tired,” Williams said.

Though the Thunder figure to have some reinforcements back against the Rockets, they’ll still remain without two of their biggest pieces — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.

Gilgeous-Alexander is out until after the All-Star break with an abdominal injury, while Williams hasn’t played since Jan. 17 after suffering a thigh injury.

Starters Chet Holmgren (back), Isaiah Hartenstein (eye) and Luguentz Dort (knee) also missed the loss in San Antonio, as did rotational players Alex Caruso (adductor), and Ajay Mitchell (abdomen).

Of that group, only Mitchell missed Tuesday’s 128-92 win over the Orlando Magic.

–Field Level Media

No. 10 Michigan State is facing real adversity for the first time this season. A matchup against the hottest team in the Big Ten only adds to the Spartans’ concerns.

No. 5 Illinois rides a 12-game winning streak into Saturday’s clash versus Michigan State at East Lansing, Mich.

Michigan State (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten) lost last weekend at home to rival Michigan, then hit the road and wound up with a bad loss, falling to Minnesota 76-73 on Wednesday. The Golden Gophers snapped a seven-game losing streak.

Reserve guard Divine Ugochukwu suffered a left foot injury in the first half of that game. He was ruled out for the remainder of the season on Friday.

Star point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. continues to injure his reputation. Wolverines coach Dusty May called out Fears for making dangerous plays in last week’s game, including an apparently intentional effort to trip a Michigan player in the late going.

Fears was assessed a technical foul on Wednesday for making a kicking motion to the groin of Minnesota guard Langston Reynolds after Reynolds fouled him.

Head coach Tom Izzo threatened to pull Fears from the starting lineup on Saturday.

“I did not see what happened on the play,” Izzo said. “I saw him get pushed and I saw his leg come up and I didn’t think he hit anybody, but if he did, then he deserves it, I guess. But if he didn’t, I questioned it. So are they baiting him? Well, of course. And it’s his fault.”

Izzo needs to get his team refocused quickly after its clunker in Minneapolis. The Spartans trailed virtually the entire game. They nearly erased a 16-point deficit in the late going but their woeful start — 21 first-half points — doomed them.

“What a strange game,” Izzo said. “I can’t figure out why we started out so poorly. Disappointed in my upperclassmen, if I was to be honest. And the coach, because the coach has to get a team ready, and playing three games in a row now that we have not been there at the beginning.”

The Illini were dominant throughout their last outing, pounding Northwestern, 84-44, on Wednesday. The Illini (20-3) are 11-1 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2004-05 squad won its first 15 league games as part of 29 straight victories to open the season.

A change in defensive strategy has helped to fuel the Illini run.

“We’re giving up more (three-pointers) because we’re trying to not give up as many twos and as many layups,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “Those are 100 percent shots. … We’re going to give up some threes, but we’re going to count on not giving up twos and not giving up the 100 percent shots as much.”

The Illini barely gave up anything against the Wildcats, who went 19-for-65 from the field and just 4-for-25 from 3-point range. Northwestern coach Chris Collins heaped praise on the red-hot Illini afterward.

“They have tremendous length, so it’s really hard to score at the basket,” Collins said. “Their two-point defense is terrific. They’re doing such a good job eliminating your easy baskets. We took 25 threes. We needed to make double figures, and we only made four.”

Andrej Stojakovic had a team-high 17 points for Illinois against Northwestern.

–Field Level Media