4 Michigan State basketball players had career games against North Carolina

If you went to bed early on Wednesday night, you missed a thriller. Michigan State basketball probably shouldn't have needed overtime to beat No. 12 North Carolina, but the Spartans used the extra five minutes to continue its domination.

On top of leading for about 99 percent of the game, the Spartans got some career performances from four of their best players.

That's right, four different Spartans hit career-highs for points against North Carolina in the 94-91 overtime thriller. That's almost unheard of.

The first was Tre Holloman. The junior guard stepped up in the absence of Jase Richardson and channeled his inner Tyson Walker, scoring 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting with a trio of threes. He added seven assists, three steals, and two rebounds.

Next was Jeremy Fears Jr. who cashed in a career-best 13 points. He hit some truly clutch free throws down the stretch (9-for-11) and had six assists, four rebounds, and two steals.

Following the two guards was Coen Carr. The sophomore forward scored a career-high 14 points with seven rebounds and a block. He was scoring in different ways, too. While he does get recognition for his thunderous dunks, he was putting the ball on the floor and driving to the rim, making some touch baskets. He was 6-for-8 from the floor and looked like a budding star.

Lastly, Xavier Booker stepped up and looked like the player we were all expecting to start the season. He scored a career-best 12 points (all in the second half and overtime) and also had seven rebounds and a block. Booker looked more confident, making 5-of-7 shots from the floor, including a poster over a North Carolina defender in overtime.

These four could all use this as a confidence-boost heading into the final stretch of non-conference play as well as the two December Big Ten games.

Tom Izzo has himself a team with an incredibly high ceiling.