EAST LANSING — Jeremy Fears Jr. started.
Jeremy Fears Jr. finished.
Amid a week-plus of controversy, and after another review for a potential trip, the Michigan State basketball point guard delivered a tour de force performance and another comeback win. Fears scored 11 of the Spartans’ 14 points in overtime and finished with 26 points and 15 assists to deliver an 85-82 win over No. 6 Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 7.
"Everybody just did what we needed to do," said Fears, who also helped MSU outscore Illinois on the fastbreak, 22-0. "And that's what we weren't doing the last two games."
Breslin Center chants of “M-V-P!” rang out in overtime as the 6-foot-2, 190-pound third-year sophomore went 7-for-7 on free throws in overtime to finish 12-for-13 at the line in the game. Fears also had two hunt-and-peck, driving layups in the extra period, one of which was a three-point play. His assist total ranks fourth-best in for a single game MSU history, behind the 20 from Mateen Cleaves in 2000, and Gary Ganakas' 17 in 1972 and Fears' own 17 last month against Maryland. Fears played a career high 42 minutes, 30 seconds.
Illinois, however, had a chance to send it to a second OT. Keaton Wagler drained a 3-pointer with 6.0 seconds remaining, then Coen Carr turned the ensuing inbound pass over. Zvonimir Ivisic launched a contested 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired that smacked off the backboard and bounced away.
Kur Teng scored 10 points, including a second-chance 3-pointer off a Jaxon Kohler offensive rebound with 8.6 seconds to play in regulation to help send the game to overtime after MSU (20-4, 10-3 Big Ten) fell behind by nine points early in the second half. Kohler finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds, Jordan Scott scored 10 points and applied stingy defense to Wagler all night, while Carr and Carson Cooper combined for 17 points and 16 rebounds to end the Spartans’ two-game losing streak. MSU won the rebounding battle, 48-38.
"Everybody did something," Izzo said, who added that he felt his team "got a little full ourselves for a while" before losing the past two games at home to No. 2 Michigan and at Minnesota on Wednesday.
David Mirkovic scored 18 points, and Andrej Stojakovic had 17 for Illinois (20-4, 11-2), which had its 12-game win streak snapped. Wagler scored 16 points but went just 2-for-16 from the field and 2-of-8 from 3-point range, as the Illini shot 27.8% from deep.
Where does MSU sit in the Big Ten race?
With the win, the Spartans sit 1½ games back of Big Ten-leading Michigan, which plays Sunday at Ohio State; MSU dropped Illinois out of a share of first place in the conference; the 10-3 Spartans are in fourth place, half a game behind 10-2 Nebraska, which beat Rutgers on Saturday, and a half game ahead of 9-3 Purdue. The top four in league play qualify for a double-bye in next month’s Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.
Another trip
For the third straight game, Fears’ outstretched foot became an issue.
With 3:23 to play in the first half and MSU down three, Fears got the ball and pushed the pace up the court. He slowed down around the top of the key and shoveled a pass to Kohler on the right wing. As he did, Fears felt Illinois’ David Mirkovic put his hands on his left shoulder and Fears’ left leg slid to the left. Mirkovic’s feet hit Fears’ foot, and the 6-foot-9 Illini freshman fell to the ground with no call as Kohler drained a 3-pointer to tie it, 31-31.
However, after Andrej Stojakovic scored at the other end, Illinois coach Brad Underwood called for refs to stop play and review Fears’ action with 2:55 remaining. Izzo was furious at the stoppage. However, referees determined no action was needed, and the Illini lost a timeout.
"There was nothing on the trip. They looked at it," Underwood said. "It's always gonna be a judgmental thing. He stops, and it's what he does."
Said Izzo: "I have no idea, I didn't go over there. If (Fears) breathes on somebody now, there's gonna be a call thanks to what happened. So end of that story. Ask another question. You won't get an answer."
While that might be the most talked-about play of the half, it certainly wasn’t the highlight. That came when Scott grabbed a loose ball rebound and passed it to Fears on the move. Carr dashed down the left wing and soared for the lob from Fears, throwing down a reverse alley-oop dunk with 51 seconds left before the break.
But Wagler, held scoreless up to that point, drew Scott’s second foul 42.4 seconds left and hit both free throws with to send the Illini into the locker room with a 39-35 lead.
Kohler had eight points and five rebounds, while Fears had eight assists and four points despite going 2-for-6 and missing both his 3-point attempts. Fears also had two of MSU’s six first-half turnovers, three of which came on the Spartans’ first three possessions of the game.
Mirkovic had nine points and Ben Humrichous eight for Illinois at the half as the Illini shot 42.4% and hit 5 of 17 from 3-point range.
Another comeback
Just 51 seconds into the second half, MSU found itself down by nine points. A 3-pointer from Stojakovic and two more Wagler free throws gave Illinois its largest lead to that point, 44-35.
Much like their previous three games, however, the Spartans clawed their way back into it. They went on a 14-4 run, with Fears as the catalyst with back-to-back alley-oop assists for dunks by Cooper and Carr sandwiched between two driving buckets for the point guard. Then with 13:18 to play, another Fears lob to Carr on a baseline cut gave MSU a 49-48 lead and whipped the Luchador mask-adorned Izzone into a frenzy.
But Illinois took it right back on a Tomislav Ivisic hook shot. Then Cam Ward ran through Jake Davis in the right corner, and the Illini junior forward’s 3-pointer swished and turned into a four-point play and a five-point Illini lead with the quick 6-0 run.
MSU continued to keep close, with Fears feeding Scott and Kohler for 3-pointers. The Spartans kept crashing the boards as well, and Fears attacked off the dribble. Finally, after five straight points from Fears – including a lightning-quick driving layup – and Scott coolly draining both ends of a 1-and-1 at the free-throw line, MSU got back on top, 68-67, with 1:49 to play.
Fears, however, missed a jumper as the shot clock nearly expired with about 48 seconds left. Then Mirkovic drove through the Spartans’ defense for a layup with 32.5 left in regulation.
But after Teng missed his first 3-point attempt in the final 15 seconds, Kohler snared the offensive board, waited for the sophomore shooting guard to reposition and kicked it back out for the splash. MSU led 71-69 with 8.6 left.
However, Illinois got one reprieve as Fears bumped into Jake Davis going for a rebound after Wagler missed a wide-open 3-pointer that could have won it. Instead, Fears was whistled for the foul, and Davis hit both with a full second put on the clock. A desperation 3-pointer from Cooper after a full-court pass kicked off the rim, sending the game to overtime.
Fears had 11 points and seven assists in the second half.
"Jeremy was phenomenal once we got him downhill a little bit," Izzo said.
What’s next for Michigan State
The Spartans get an extended break before another tough road game at Wisconsin (16-7, 8-4) on Friday (8 p.m., Fox). The Badgers lost 78-77 in overtime at Indiana on Saturday and travel to Illinois for a 7 p.m. Tuesday tipoff in Champaign. However, coach Greg Gard’s team is 12-2 at home this season, falling only to No. 12 Purdue and USC.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball finds shot late to upset Illinois at home