EAST LANSING — Jeremy Fears Jr. has elevated his game over the past six weeks to an All-American level, regardless of the chastising and consternation around him.
Fears’ play may even be among the best in Michigan State basketball history by the time the season ends.
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Tom Izzo watched his point guard once again take over and dominate after halftime Saturday, Feb. 7, against No. 6 Illinois. Fears scored 11 of the 10th-ranked Spartans’ 14 points in overtime and finished with 26 points and 15 assists against two turnovers in a come-from-behind 85-82 victory at Breslin Center.
“I felt bad – that hurt me, and I was hurting my team,” Fears said of the on-court controversy that started eight days earlier with a loss to Michigan. “But at the end of the day, without the team, coach Izzo, the coaches, their support and belief in me kept me grounded. Understanding that I need the team, the team needs me. And it just was a bonding moment, I think. It just brought us closer.
“It was just a distraction we didn’t need. And just being able to come out here and get this win was special.”
Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr. prepares to shoot free throws against Illinois during overtime on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound redshirt sophomore from Joliet, Illinois, entered Sunday ranked fourth in the KenPom.com national player of the year standings. Fears trails Duke‘s Cameron Boozer, Iowa State‘s Joshua Jefferson and Houston’s Kingston Flemings.
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Against the Illini, Fears either scored or assisted on 22 of MSU’s 29 made shots – almost 76%. He also had a hand in 62 of his team’s 85 points, including going 12-for-13 on free throws. His 15 assists rank fourth-most in a game by a Spartan, along with directing MSU to a 22-0 advantage in fastbreak points over Illinois (20-4, 11-2 Big Ten).
Fears made all seven of his free throws in overtime, though he was 7-for-19 shooting from the field in the game while playing a career-high 42 minutes, 30 seconds. It was his fifth time scoring at least 20 points this season and 10th time with at least 10 assists.
“I think now, he’s understanding the level of leadership and level of maturity he needs to have,” senior Carson Cooper said. “Today, there was a lot of times where he could’ve got ahead of himself, he could’ve gotten in his head, he could’ve been doing extra stuff. And being able to pull this out and have the game he had is huge for him.”
According to CBBAnalytics.com, Fears became the first major conference (Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, ACC, Big East) player since Trae Young in Dec. 19, 2017 to post 25-or-more points with 15-or-more assists in a game. Young had 26 points and 22 assists for Oklahoma in a nonconference win over Northwestern State.
Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr. slaps hands with fans after the Spartans win over Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Fears, however, did it against the No. 6 team in the country. In a Big Ten game. Against his home state rival. On national television. After a week of heightened scrutiny and debate over whether he is a gritty or dirty player.
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“Did he need it to validate? No. Did I need it for him to validate? No. No, guys, I don’t need that, I could give a damn about that,” Izzo said. “I just was pleased that most of the time I spent the last four or five days was talking with him, because you go one of two ways when there’s distractions. You want to mete it (out) and prove something – he was not in that mode at all – or you just do your job and you take care of your business.”
In Fears’ past 12 games, he is averaging 19.5 points, 9.1 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals. He’s shooting 91.4% at the free-throw line, going 85-for-93, and connecting on 57.5% of his 2-point shots.
While Izzo attempted to temper praise for Fears, who is shooting just 21.4% from 3-point range during that stretch, the Hall of Fame coach and his other players also know they can only reach their ceiling and beyond behind their No. 1 engine.
Michigan State’s head coach Tom Izzo, left, talks with Jeremy Fears Jr. during the second half against Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
“Obviously, it’s been tough for Jeremy,” Cooper said. “We had to have a lot of heart-to-hearts. After Minnesota, me and Jeremy had a one-on-one a while, about 45 minutes or an hour. I needed to clear stuff up with him and kind of see where his brain was at. …
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“One of the biggest things I told him is Jeremy Fears is the key to all our success.”
But it didn’t come without another controversy after a week-plus of them.
With 3:23 left in Saturday’s first half, Fears was leading the Spartans in transition when he stuck his left leg out slightly and tangled his feet with Illinois’ David Mirković, who tripped and fell to the floor. Illini coach Brad Underwood appealed for a review a few seconds later, but no penalty was assessed by referee Jeff Anderson.
“Obviously, I understand that everything will be magnified,” Fears said. “So just for me, it’s not even trying to get put in a position like that. Overall, I know what’s a basketball play. I wasn’t trying to trip or harm anyone. … It’s just understanding that everything will be kind of looked at now. It’s nothing I can really control – just go out there and play ball.”
Fears’ 26 points were his third-most in his career, trailing only the 31 he scored in a Jan. 30 home loss to No. 2 Michigan, and the 29 he scored on Jan. 27 at Rutgers. It also was his 12th straight game scoring in double figures.
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Saturday’s second half and overtime takeover was reminiscent of the victory over the Scarlet Knights, in which Fears scored 27 points after half.
In both games, Fears attacked off the dribble and either hit a bucket in the paint or got fouled and scored at the free-throw line.
“Second half, he did what he had to do,” Izzo said, “which great players do in winning time. He found a way to make some key plays.”
Fears leads the nation in assists per game at 9.1 (219 in 24 games), while Purdue’s Braden Smith is second at 8.7 (200 in 23 games). They are the only two players in the country averaging more than eight assists.
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No MSU player in history – not even Magic Johnson – has averaged more than nine assists over a full season. Johnson’s 8.4 a game in the Spartans’ 1978-79 national championship run is the most, and the only time a Spartan has even eclipsed eight.
Also according to KenPom.com, Fears leads the nation in assist rate, assisting on 53.5% of his teammates’ baskets while on the floor. Mateen Cleaves’ school record 20 assists is seemingly within Fears’ reach on any given night. With the help of his teammates, of course.
And they gave him plenty Saturday in a thrilling win that keeps MSU (20-4, 10-3) afloat in the hunt to repeat as Big Ten champ.
Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr., right, celebrates with teammates during a timeout against Illinois during overtime on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Six of Fears’ assists against Illinois came on 3-pointers by the Spartans, who made seven in the game. The lone non-Fears assist came from a kickout dish from Jaxon Kohler to Kur Teng for a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds left in regulation.
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Kohler posted his first double-double to end a six-game drought, finishing with 11 points and 16 rebounds that equaled his most boards in a Big Ten game in his career. Cooper, Coen Carr and Cam Ward combined to add 23 rebounds as the Spartans outrebounded Illinois, 48-38 and 7-2 in overtime.
Carr (eight points, eight rebounds) delivered an electric reverse dunk on a Fears alley-oop, one of three times the two connected to get Breslin buzzing. Fears also hit Cooper (nine points, eight rebounds) for another dunk. Shooting guards Jordan Scott and Teng each scored 10 points, with reserve Trey Fort hitting his only shot, a 3-pointer.
Defensively, Scott took the bulk of the time on fellow freshman Wagler, with Fears and Cooper also providing some of the different looks that flummoxed the Illini star. Wagler went just 2-for-16 from the field, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds along with just three assists.
“Without them doing their jobs,” Fears said of his teammates, “we probably more than likely don’t get the win. … Everybody just did what we needed to do, and that’s what we weren’t doing the last two games.”
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After ending a two-game losing streak, closing a stretch of four games in 12 days, the Spartans next play Friday at Wisconsin (8 p.m., Fox). And despite losing shooting guard Divine Ugochukwu for the season to a broken left foot, Izzo savored what he saw Saturday, and knows the Spartans must build on it over the final seven games of the regular season.
“We needed the win,” Izzo said. “We needed to play like Michigan State. We needed to rebound, run. We needed to get back to what we do. Are we over a hump? Hell, no. The next game, it gets tougher.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jeremy Fears adds another elite effort for MSU to quiet detractors
