The No. 2 seed Michigan State men's basketball team is advancing to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time under head coach Tom Izzo, following the Spartans' 71-63 victory over No. 10 seed New Mexico in the Round of 32 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.
For the second NCAA Tournament game in a row, Michigan State found itself down early before charging back to take control of the contest and ultimately win.
Perhaps one of the unsung heroes of the night was redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
The stats did not jump off of the page for Fears. He finished the game against the Lobos with just five points (all from free throws, going 5-for-8 from the charity stripe), and missed both of his field goal attempts. He added three rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Impressively, he finished the game with just one turnover.
However, a lot of the little things that Fears did are things you won't find in the box score. His defense on junior guard Donovan Dent, New Mexico's leading scorer, impressed Izzo. Dent came into the game averaging 20.6 points per game and shooting 49.4% from the floor, but the Spartans held him to 14 points on 7-for-18 (38.9%) shooting on Sunday.
"I thought Jeremy did some really good things, too," Izzo said about Fears in a media scrum after the win over the Lobos. "He had to guard that kid (Dent) a lot by himself, and he pushed that ball, he got people into some positions."
With its deep rotation of contributors, Michigan State's mantra all year has been "strength in numbers," and Fears is well aware that it took the entire team to defeat New Mexico.
"Our whole motto is 'play hard,' and everyone can do a little bit," Fears said in the locker room after the game. "So, that's the best part about it."
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michiganstate.rivals.com
For the second NCAA Tournament game in a row, Michigan State found itself down early before charging back to take control of the contest and ultimately win.
Perhaps one of the unsung heroes of the night was redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
The stats did not jump off of the page for Fears. He finished the game against the Lobos with just five points (all from free throws, going 5-for-8 from the charity stripe), and missed both of his field goal attempts. He added three rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Impressively, he finished the game with just one turnover.
However, a lot of the little things that Fears did are things you won't find in the box score. His defense on junior guard Donovan Dent, New Mexico's leading scorer, impressed Izzo. Dent came into the game averaging 20.6 points per game and shooting 49.4% from the floor, but the Spartans held him to 14 points on 7-for-18 (38.9%) shooting on Sunday.
"I thought Jeremy did some really good things, too," Izzo said about Fears in a media scrum after the win over the Lobos. "He had to guard that kid (Dent) a lot by himself, and he pushed that ball, he got people into some positions."
With its deep rotation of contributors, Michigan State's mantra all year has been "strength in numbers," and Fears is well aware that it took the entire team to defeat New Mexico.
"Our whole motto is 'play hard,' and everyone can do a little bit," Fears said in the locker room after the game. "So, that's the best part about it."
Read more:
Beyond the Box Score: Jeremy Fears Jr. impacts MSU's win over New Mexico
Jeremy Fears Jr.'s impact on Michigan State's win over New Mexico goes further than the stat sheet. More from Fears.
