ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 8-ranked Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo defends Jeremy Fears Jr., praises his team’s effort after a 90-80 loss to No. 3-ranked Michigan Wolverines, but blames miscues, especially on ball-screen coverage, for the defeat.
Izzo credited Michigan’s shooting while insisting there are “no moral victories” and that his team will improve.
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He singled out Michigan’s perimeter shooting and free-throw advantage as decisive factors.
Izzo also called out specific execution errors he expects his team and staff to correct before the Big Ten Tournament.
He also talked about the Michigan fans in attendance who, once the game got out of reach, started chanting “Little Brother” throughout the arena during Sunday’s (March 8) defeat.
“Guess the crowd didn’t watch the game because I’m nobody’s damn little brother, and neither is my team. I’m really proud of my team, how they played,” said Izzo.
Wolverines head coach Dusty May said, “There are some chants in our student section that I don’t agree with. I wouldn’t want to say, and I don’t agree with kids, but you turn on your TV, and it’s part of the competitive environment.”
Izzo gave Michigan a lot of credit, saying they shot the daylights out of it, especially Yaxel Lendeborg.
“They shot 40% from the three, and they took 100 free throws. That was a difference in the game. We made some boneheaded plays where we didn’t step up on ball screens, let him get downhill,” Izzo said. “And we made some uncharacteristic mistakes, fouling a guy and things like that.”
Izzo said the game was great to watch, but the Hall of Fame coach said he was not taking a back seat to anyone.
“I don’t care what they’ve done. “They’ve deserved what they got. Twenty-nine and two and deserve every bit of it. But we deserve what we got, and we will get better because I’m going to make some of those same ball-screen mistakes we make in the games.”
It was a four-point game (76-72) when Michigan grabbed three offensive rebounds in the second half and scored on two of those possessions to push the game out of reach, according to Izzo.
Izzo reiterated that he doesn’t do “moral victories,” as he said, “We’ve done it longer and better than most. So, there’s no moral victory. But I’m proud of them because I thought we played with them in every way, shape, or form. They made a couple of big plays. We didn’t. had two shots that went in and out. One was a five- to six-point game. One by Cooper, one by Kohler. And give them credit and give us credit. It’s a hell of a basketball game. They’ve had a hell of a year. We’ve had a hell of a year. Theirs has been a little better.
“Well, it plays big, you know, and they got up four because we didn’t cover the ball screens, right? They got downhill and kicked it for the corners. And that bothers me because we had worked on that. Morning, noon, and night. So, we did not execute that. It wasn’t that they hit threes off the ball screen. They hit threes by penetrating. And when you penetrate like that, that’s why you give up those three offensive rebounds that we did twice late. And so that’s something that we’ve been pretty good at. We weren’t very good at it today.
Jeremy Fears Jr.
Fears Jr. played well in the matchup, finishing with 22 points and nine assists, but Izzo had to address another incident involving a technical foul.
With 14:24 to play, Fears Jr. kicked Elliot Cadeau below the belt while trailing 10-7 in the first half.
On the play, Fears Jr. turned his back at the top of the key, and Cadeau swiped for the ball when he backwards kicked the Michigan guard.
“I thought Jeremy Fears played his ass off, 99% of that game. And you know what, I did what I was going to do. I chewed him out for it, but I watched it on tape and guys pushing him in the back, and sometimes that stuff happens, you know.”
Izzo said he was sick of one-sided calls.
“That’s what upset me about the first time. So Fears will get his lunch from me. I wonder if some of their guys will get their lunch from what happened in the first game that didn’t get publicized. But I don’t condone anything. I don’t think he tried to kick him on purpose. If you watch it, it was like he didn’t even know he did it, and then he probably said, ‘Oh, that’s Fears. Let’s go.’ So, don’t condone it. I don’t know exactly what happened, except he did get pushed in the back, and that’s why he got the foul. And you know what, Fears has done a hell of a job. Since getting publicly reprimanded by everybody. And he’s done a hell of a job. And nobody’s tougher on him than me. Nobody”
Previous matchup
In the game that was played on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, the Wolverines got their first victory in East Lansing since the 2018 season, but it didn’t come easy as the Spartans stormed back from an 18-point deficit to take a two-point lead in the second half.
But all of that was overshadowed by the play of Fears Jr., who finished the game with 31 points, seven assists, and five rebounds in the matchup, as he was seen for 40 minutes doing some outlandish things on the basketball court.
The plays were so outlandish that a highlight reel was shared on social media, showing Fears Jr. engaging in questionable activity.
For instance, there was a moment in the game where Fears appeared to trip Lendeborg.
When asked if it appeared to be a “trip” or was an illusion or an actual trip, Dusty May responded, “Appeared? It wasn’t an illusion, right?”
The game was heavily televised, as the combined Associated Press ranking of the No. 3 Wolverines and then-ranked No. 7 Spartans was the highest in the rivalry’s history.
Coming into the game, Michigan State was riding a four-game winning streak. They rode a five-game winning streak on Sunday before falling in Ann Arbor.
MSU was on a four-game winning streak and had won seven of the last 10, so all eyes were on, including NBA scouts in attendance, who could see questionable plays.
There was a play where Fears Jr. flopped during a contested pass by L.J. Cason.
While on the floor, behind the three-point line, Fears could be seen grabbing the leg of Cason, causing him to fall to the floor.
There was another play where Fears Jr. was pushing the ball up the floor during a fast break with Wolverines big man Aday Mara in the trailer position.
During the play, instead of dribbling, Fears Jr. abruptly stopped his dribble right in front of him, causing Mara to fall over him and leading to a foul.
A few moments later, the cameras caught Fears Jr. yelling at Mara, saying, “You’re a B!@#%.”
Fears later sent Lendeborg to the line following a flagrant foul during a fastbreak, where he didn’t even go for the ball. Fears Jr. just swiped him out of the air.
One of the flops cost MSU three points as Fears Jr. tried to draw a foul on Morez Johnson Jr., who set a screen-play for Cadeau, who was left wide open for the uncontested three-pointer.
Another play saw Fears Jr. get blocked by Lendeborg, who then leaked out for a fast-break dunk.
Trailing behind was Fears Jr., who chose not to draw another flagrant foul, since he already had one in the game, allowing him to score on the play.
Fears Jr. also pulled Lendeborg to the ground during a block attempt, leading to an and-one for MSU.
And at the end of the game, when Cadeau grabbed the rebound and fell to the floor amongst the clutter, calling for a timeout, Fears Jr. ran over after the play and started yanking at the ball, trying to pull it out of the hands of Cadeau, before a referee rushed over, leading to Fears Jr. putting his hand in the air like he didnt do anything.
When asked if the play of Fears Jr. went beyond basketball and if the Big 10 should address it, May said, “I think there were several plays that were extremely dangerous, and I am proud of our guys for the responses they had in those situations.”
He continued: “I am extremely proud of their self-control, their restraint, and their impulse control, and I’ll leave it at that.”
May noted, “But they’re not isolated incidents.”
When pressed further about the film evidence and whether he had reached out to Michigan State’s staff, Dusty said, “I have not reached out to their staff. No.”
May continued: “The films there, 40 minutes of it. It’s not hard to find.”
Izzo said on Sunday, “I got guys that are, as I said, 55 and 13 over two years. And I think we got a lot of basketball left in us.”
→ ‘Tell him to call me’: Michigan-MSU rivalry heats up as Tom Izzo responds to Dusty May comments