It took overtime for Michigan State to end the 12-game winning streak of Illinois. In the game, Jeremy Fears Jr. was amazing, finishing with 26 points, including 11 in overtime, plus 15 assists. Before the game, head coach Tom Izzo had to address the dirty play of Fears. After the game, the play of Fears was once again called into question.
Late in the first half, Illinois coach Brad Underwood asked officials to look at a play in which he thought Fears intentionally tripped David Mirkovic after stopping directly in front of him. Izzo had comments about the play being reviewed.
“If he breathes on somebody now, there's going to be a call,” Izzo said.
Izzo said in the pregame that he did not condone the play of Fears, but said that his play did not merit suspension.
“He's remorseful,” Izzo said.
The sophomore is having a breakout season. He has scored 25 or more points in three of the last four games, while having back-to-back games with double-digit assists. He is averaging 15.1 points per game this year while leading the nation with 9.1 assists per game on the campaign.
“I didn't have any worry that it wasn't a basketball play,” Fears said about the play. “I had some mistakes that I made in past game that I don't want to let happen. I hurt my team.”
The victory for Michigan State breaks a two-game losing skid. They fell to Michigan, but then were also upset on the road by Minnesota. Still, at 20-4, Michigan State will have a high seed in the NCAA tournament. Illinois is also 20-4 on the season now, after falling to Illinois. Illinois returns to the court on Tuesday, hosting Wisconsin, while Michigan State is back to action on Friday against Wisconsin.
