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Jeremy Fears Jr. 1st-round mindset should terrify the rest of the East Region

As the Michigan State Spartans took down the North Dakota State Bison, guard Jeremy Fears Jr. looked to be playing his best ball at the best possible time.
Mar 19, 2026; Buffalo, NY, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) passes the ball as NDSU Bison forward Treyson Anderson (44) defends.
Mar 19, 2026; Buffalo, NY, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) passes the ball as NDSU Bison forward Treyson Anderson (44) defends. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

The Michigan State Spartans just walloped the North Dakota State Bison in a 92-67 beatdown that had Tom Izzo's team firing on all cylinders.

During the absolute clinic that Michigan State put on in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. played as well as he ever has, and it should have the rest of the teams still standing in the East Region absolutely terrified to cross the Spartans.

Carson Cooper led MSU in scoring and rebounding, with 20 points and 10 boards, but the biggest highlight was Fears' awareness on the court.

Jeremy Fears leads Michigan State in assists vs. NDSU

Fears seemed capable of predicting where defenders and his own teammates would move next as he dished out 11 assists (the most on the team), to push the Spartans to their 25-point victory over the Bison.

While he only scored seven points of his, Fears was everywhere on the court, and his in-game vision was on full display.

Think about how many points 11 assists can lead to when they're coming from your point guard. At a minimum, 11 assists translate to 22 points. Except, in this game, they led to even more as the Spartans shot a resounding 50 percent from beyond the arc.

With Fears on the court, the Spartans were +17 on the Bison. Not to mention the fact that Fears, who came across foul trouble throughout the regular season, only committed one foul throughout the 32 minutes he was in the game.

Also read: Tom Izzo just made simultaneous NCAA Tournament history with John Calipari

The team has a whole racked up 26 assists on 33 made field goals, alongside 31 defensive rebounds, six blocks, and five steals to completely shut down the Bison on the other end of the court.

With Fears seeing the game as well as he did against North Dakota State, the rest of the East (which includes teams like Duke, Kansas, UConn, and more) should be shaking in their boots.

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