The Michigan State Spartans continue to impress. Whether they’re knocking off top-15 teams in the SEC or facing programs that had a 27-game losing streak just over a year ago, Izzo’s Spartans simply show up to win.
This time, it was the lowly Detroit Mercy Titans who tried to stand in the way. With former Tom Izzo assistant Mike Montgomery leading the Titans, you knew they would bring a little more bite. Winning against your old boss is deeply satisfying, but Izzo remained the Jedi Master. And for a team with deep ambitions in March and April, this game was just a fly on the windshield.
Game Overview
This one was over after the jump. Michigan State opened with a 10-0 score and never looked back. The three-pointers didn’t fall like they did in the Kentucky game, but they were falling enough. And every time Detroit Mercy strung together a few good possessions, Michigan State calmly responded with dominance, taking a 16-point halftime lead.
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The second half was much the same. The Spartans saw the floor beautifully, moved the ball with confidence and heated up even more behind the arc. The leaders mobilized physically, crashed the boards and knocked down shots.
Then came the moment when Breslin’s rafters nearly cracked.
With eight minutes left, Jeremy Fears Jr. threw a lob that seemed to scrape the ceiling. As the ball hung in the air, Coen Carr materialized out of nowhere, meeting it at the top and hammering it straight down. Just another Friday for Carr’s absurd athleticism, but the dunk sent East Lansing into a frenzy. This may have registered as a minor earthquake given the power of the building explosion.
After the match, Izzo summed up the connection simply: “Him and Jeremy are deadly on that lob thing.”
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MSU continued to intimidate the Titans from there. Jaxon Kohler added a big dunk, the three continued to go down for a second straight game, and scout team legend Nick Sanders came in late to bury a three, much to the delight of his teammates.
Carson Cooper then joked, “We said we were going to beat him if he went in one of these games like this and didn’t get aggressive like he does on the scout team…he scores so much on the scout team and he hits shots on the scout team.”
Jeremy Fears Jr. recorded another double-double and still leads the entire NCAA in assists per game (10.3) – the only player in the country averaging double figures. Even scarier? Izzo said, “I think he’s just starting to blossom.”
But it wasn’t a perfect night. And at Izzo, perfection is always the goal.
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“We spread some wide-open shots, I mean, we spread them,” he said. “If you ask me, the guy who should be upset is Fears, not me. He would have had 15, 16 assists tonight if they had just made consistent shots.”
Michigan State Player Stats
Starters
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Jeremy Fears Jr. — 18 pts / 11 ast / 2 stl / 2–4 3PT
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Coen Carr — 13 pts / 7 reb / 2 blk / 1–3 3PT
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Jaxon Kohler — 13 pts / 4 reb / 1–4 3PT
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Carson Cooper — 12 pts / 6 reb / 1 stl
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Trey Fort – 5 pts / 2 ast / 1–2 3PT / 1 black
Bench
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Cam Ward — 5 pts / 8 reb / 1 stl
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Kur Teng – 2 pts / 2 reb / 0–4 3PT
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Jesse McCulloch — 5 pts / 6 reb / 2 blk
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Jordan Scott – 2 pts / 3 reb
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Divine Ugochukwu — 6 pts / 1 ace
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Nick Sanders — 3 pts / 1 reb / 1–2 3PT
Upcoming matches
Michigan State is off to a 5-0 start, but the tests get a lot tougher next week.
Two teams from Carolina are coming to town:
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Thursday: North Carolina – the game everyone has been circling
A perfect way to end the month of November.
And as we begin to sing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” the Spartans will open December with home games against Iowa and then Duke.
As usual, Izzo has put together a challenging schedule to start the season and we are about to witness some epic college basketball games.
