Jeremy Fears Jr.'s technical foul is one Tom Izzo won't let the media blame him for

At this point of the season, Michigan State has to be better than this... Although the Spartans were able to get the home win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, it was too close for comfort with a final score of 91-87. While Michigan State improved to 25-5 on the season and 15-4 in Big Ten play, this mental meltdown from star guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is all that Spartans fans can talk about on Friday.

Fears was given a technical foul for pointing up to the scoreboard after getting called for a reach-in.

After the game, head coach Tom Izzo expressed that he was unaware of this taunting rule in place.

"As far as the technical, seriously, I have never heard of something like that. But the ref told me that that's right in the rulebook, so that is my fault. I should be able to relay the rules to my players and if I don't why should they know it if I don't know it? And that's what I told the official. But I didn't argue it because of that, but I think it taught him and I a lesson that you still can't do that."

He made it a point to say that he was not going to protect Fears for this mental lapse vs. Rutgers.

"It was a five-point play and a lot of things changed, but before you blame him, I'm not protecting him. I don't protect him, ever. He's a quarterback. I'm the coach. We're the two guys that get the most crap and deserve it because of the positions we're in. But that was not his fault."

The foul resulted in a five-point swing in Rutgers' favor, which played a part in them keeping it close.

Michigan State may have gotten the Quad 3 home win over Rutgers, but it was an ugly one all around.

Tom Izzo takes ownership of Jeremy Fears Jr. getting a taunting technical

As Izzo said in his postgame press conference, this is a teaching moment for not only him and Fears, but for the entire team. For as good of a team as Michigan State has been this season, the Spartans played with their food and almost suffered their worst loss of the season. Yes, the huge Michigan road date is coming up on Sunday, but a Quad 3 loss at home to Rutgers would have been so disastrous...

In the latest Bracketology update, Michigan State projects as a No. 2 seed for the second week in a row and the fourth time all season. While the Spartans have never been any higher than this, they have an outside shot at getting a No. 1 seed if they were to beat Michigan on Sunday, and then proceed to run the table in the Big Ten Tournament. Keep in mind that Illinois is also a No. 2 seed, too.

Right now, Michigan State is one of handful of teams or so who can realistically win March Madness this spring. For Izzo's team, it is all about getting a favorable matchup. While Izzo usually saves his best for March, there does seem to be quite a gap between the teams projected to be No. 1 seeds and those who will be No. 2s. Michigan State has a chance at a No. 1, but it cannot play like this again.

In the meantime, being able to win games ugly is actually a great sign for a team who could win it all.