NEW YORK — Although it has taken a back seat to a impressive 3-point shot performance, Michigan State Basketball‘s generosity with the ball led to several of those buckets that took out No. 13 Kentucky.
A career-high 13 assists for Jeremy Fears Jr. Another robust night of team breakdown around him. An impressive 83-66 victory over the Wildcats for the 18th-ranked Spartans on Tuesday, November 18 at Madison Square Garden.
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And a heap of praise and pride — amid his usual downplaying — from coach Tom Izzo about the way MSU moved the ball.
“Where it’s a little bit like last year, it’s very unselfish,” Izzo said after the Spartans had 25 assists on their 32 made shots. “I still think we still have potential.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 18: Jeremy Fears Jr. #1 of the Michigan State Spartans dribbles during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats during the 2025 State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 18, 2025 in New York. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
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Opening the season with four straight wins, the Spartans contributed to 86 of their 110 made field goals, a generous 78.2% share rate. They will face former MSU point guard and Izzo assistant Mark Montgomery and Detroit Mercy Friday (6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) in East Lansing.
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“It showed we’re a really complete team,” said freshman Cam Ward, who had eight points and benefited from two assists from Fears (including a lob dunk in the second half). “And we’re a strong team, too.”
Fears, a 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore, leads the nation with 41 assists and a 10.3 per game rate, while MSU ranks ninth as a team so far, with 21.5 assists per game. He finished with eight points, six rebounds and three steals.
“Jeremy after those first five minutes — let me tell you, he wasn’t very good for the first five minutes. He knows that, and I know that,” Izzo said of Fears. “When I can call him in a locker room and he starts saying, ‘It was my fault,’ then I know I’ve made progress. If you can rate yourself, that’s pretty good. The greats I had, especially (Mateen) Cleaves, could rate themselves.”
The Spartans may turn the ball over 11.5 times per game, including 13 against the Wildcats, but their ability to push the pace and deliver in the half court makes up for the giveaways. And Fears said he was “grateful” to his teammates who scored on his passes, whether in transition or around the basket.
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“They made shots and they were helpful for us tonight,” he said. “Just the fact that I trust every player on this team to make the shot or the dunk or the layup.”
When Kentucky cut the score to 10 points late, it was more than just Fears’ performance. Kur Teng, who scored a career-high 15 points, set up roommate Jesse McCulloch with a critical 3-pointer to spark a 20-6 knockout series. Teng was one of five other Spartans with two assists.
After MSU took a 17-point halftime lead, the Wildcats tried to play bully and get tough to start the second half. But the Spartans responded coolly and calmly to reassert themselves.
“It was a good team win,” said senior Jaxon Kohler, who had 20 quarts and five rebounds with two assists.
November 18, 2025; New York, New York, United States; Kentucky Wildcats forward Brandon Garrison (10) and Michigan State Spartans forward Cameron Ward (3) fight for a rebound during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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“It got physical. They kind of wanted to spoil the game, show their physicality late,” Ward said. “But by then they were already dead in the water.”
Friday will be Montgomery’s second trip to the Breslin Center as head coach, with Izzo beating his 2018 Northern Illinois team, 88-60, in their only meeting against each other. Montgomery played for Jud Heathcote, with Izzo as an assistant, at MSU from 1988-1992 and was on Izzo’s staff as an assistant twice (2002-11, 2021-24).
The Titans are 1-4 in Montgomery’s second season after going 8-24 a year ago. Izzo is 2-3 all-time against UDM, including an 83-76 win at Breslin on Dec. 4, 2020. The Titans beat Izzo three times in his first three years by a total of six points before he finally beat them, 80-70, on Nov. 12, 2001, followed by a 19-year layoff in the series.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Jeremy Fears Jr., sharing Michigan State basketball at an elite level
