Overcoming a slow start to each half, Michigan State basketball cruised to an 81-60 win over a solid Indiana team on Tuesday night to improved to 15-2 overall and 5-1 in Big Ten play.
Jeremy Fears was incredible in the first half, and then the team woke up in the final 10 minutes of the second half to really bury the 12-4 Hoosiers.
What’d we learn from a third straight double-digit Big Ten win?
1. No doubt anymore: Jeremy Fears is elite
If there was any doubt heading into this one about Fears’ status among college basketball’s elite, there isn’t anymore.
Fears was dominant from the get-go, scoring almost 20 first-half points, but he didn’t need to do much in the second half because his team started to wake up. He carried the Spartans when no one else was playing well, and then he ran the offense to perfction in the second half.
Fears showed that he can do it all. In the first half, he was playing defense and scoring in bunches. In the second half, that strong defense continued, and he instead facilitated. He finished with 23 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, and two steals on 8-of-14 shooting.
Elite.
2. Kur Teng might just have it
There’s been a lot of skepticism surrounding Kur Teng’s role with the team. He began the year as the starting two-guard, then Tom Izzo moved to Trey Fort because the sophomore struggled a bit, and then coach went to Divine Ugochukwu, and that’s where it stands.
But after watching and learning from his role as a sixth man-type, Teng has seemingly found his confidence, and he no longer looks overwhelmed out there. He played 17 minutes off the bench, played some solid defense, and scored 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from three.
I was skeptical at first, but I think Teng is coming around as the team’s secret weapon.
3. When this team locks in, it’s wraps
When this team figures it out and decided to lock in, there aren’t many teams in college basketball that can beat the Spartans.
The start of both halves looked very similar for the Spartans. They coasted in the first 10 minutes of the first half, falling behind by as much as seven, but then they flipped the script and locked down after that. The Spartans would close the first half on a 29-10 run, which was almost a 31-10 run but Jaxon Kohler’s buzzer-beater was waved off.
The second half was exactly the same. The Hoosiers stormed back from down seven to tie things up at 53-53, and Michigan State locked in again. The Spartans went on a 19-0 run, and then it eventually ballooned to a 28-2 run.
It’s amazing what this team can do when it’s defending the three, getting out in the fast break, rebounding, and finding the open man They’re elite at all of that when they’re actually locked in.
Somehow, the start to halves needs to match how the Spartans finish halves. That would be terrifying.