Jeremy Fears' career game leads Michigan State to revenge win against Indiana

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State didn’t have many losses to avenge from last season’s Big Ten championship regular season, but this one was the one to circle. A home loss to an Indiana team so bad it changed coaches might’ve stung most of all from last year’s title run, a loss that was on the mind as the Hoosiers came back to town Tuesday night.

For the second time in two weeks, No. 12 Michigan State avenged one of its losses from a year ago in thorough fashion, 81-60, fed by a career-high 23 points from point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. in a performance that commanded the Spartans forward amid a sluggish start.

Michigan State’s win concluded a sweep of its three-game home stand. Now it heads to the West Coast for games Saturday at Washington (6 p.m.) and Tuesday at Oregon (9 p.m.).

Fears scored 23 points and dished 10 assists to lead the Spartans, and Jaxon Kohler (16), Kur Teng (11) and Jordan Scott (11) all hit double digits. On the glass, 10 boards from Kohler and seven from Carson paced a 36-19 advantage even though early fouls by Cooper put a damper on his own scoring. Thirty-two of the Spartans’ points came in the paint while 27 came from the bench. The Spartans shot 8 for 26 from 3-point range.

For Indiana, Lamar Wilkerson led with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Tucker DeVries, a forward and also the son of coach Darian DeVries, added nine as the Hoosiers shot 10 for 31 from outside.

Wilkerson hit a big 3 out of halftime, the first of a string of shots that got the Hoosiers within a single shot of the Spartans after a previous 39-32 difference at the half. Meanwhile, Michigan State (15-2, 5-1 Big Ten) found more rhythm inside as Kohler banged away inside for a foul and a pair of layups against an Indiana frontcourt minding its fouls after taking 11 in the first half.

Another Wilkerson 3 — the Hoosiers’ fourth on nine attempts in the half — tied the game at 51 with 13:11 to play. Indiana found more space outside against a Michigan State defense that led the league in defending 3-pointers coming into Tuesday’s game, space that hadn’t been there for most of the first half.

Still, Michigan State found enough to stay ahead, with some depth contributions from Cam Ward and Jordan Scott. The two DMV products and roommates teamed up for back-to-back buckets, a middy from Scott and an and-one from Ward, to take control over a tie ballgame. Coen Carr slammed home a dunk with 10:06 to play that forced an Indiana timeout, the Spartans leading 60-53 in front of an energized crowd.

The timeout didn’t help. Scott stayed hot with a 3 off an assist from Fears, and Fears sprinted down the court for a fast-break layup after Kohler dove to keep a loose ball in play. Indiana called yet another timeout, trailing by 12 points after the run.

Michigan State would push that run to a gaudy 19-0 over the course of roughly seven minutes before Tucker DeVries snapped it with 4:31 to play. By then, Michigan State led 72-55. The game was largely in the Spartans’ control, though an Indiana team that lives and dies by the 3-pointer still commanded attention.

With 5:53 to play, Indiana’s Reed Bailey fouled out with a flagrant 1 foul after he shoved Carson Cooper amid a tangle-up, and Tucker DeVries’ fourth on the next possession put him in danger of joining him.

After Indiana (12-5, 3-3) snapped the run, Michigan State kept hitting the gas. Scott drained a corner 3 at the end of the shot clock, and Fears set a new career high with his 23rd point off a fast-break layup.

It was all Fears early on — actually, for quite a bit of the first half. He scored 19 of Michigan State’s 39 points in the first half, including its first 10 before he dished an assist to Kohler on a 3 with 10:11 to play. He poked away a couple of steals for baskets in the half, including a two-hand jam he threw down with 7:40 to play.

Just as important, Fears drew three of the first four Indiana fouls, including two quick ones on do-it-all Indiana guard Conor Enright, who went to the bench in foul trouble after just 66 seconds on the court.

When Fears subbed off, Indiana took over and pushed one bucket into an 8-0 run that gave it a 14-8 lead. Inside passes led driving Hoosiers to the rim, as Michigan State’s big men struggled to stay in front of them. Fears came back in at 12:54 and immediately got a bucket to stop the run.

Indiana shot its way to a seven-point lead at one point in the half, but it struggled to match the physicality of Michigan State on defense. Five different Hoosiers took two fouls in the first half, including stretch four Tucker DeVries, who subbed in and out in the final minutes. Indiana went cold from deep, making just one of its 3s in the final eight minutes.

That cold spell came just as Michigan State got hot. Scott hit a big corner 3 with 5:18 to take a 24-22 lead, part of a 9-0 run. Then Fears got some more help from Teng, who hit a trio of 3s in the final five minutes of the half including a falling shot from just outside the corner in transition. Teng’s eyes didn’t leave the rim as he hit the ground, his shot snapping nylon to the roar of a crowd that included his old teammate, Jaden Akins, who hit a few big shots in his day.