College basketball fans have been taught a lesson every single year since the beginning of time (Tom Izzo’s reign): never doubt Michigan State.
Izzo’s teams thrive and almost always surprise when they’re given no chance to win. Jeremy Fears, too, thrives when he’s doubted and he played one of his best games as a Spartan against Duke. All the talk before the game was about Duke’s stars and how deep Jon Scheyer’s team is, but Fears stole the show and led MSU to a surprisingly dominant win.
Michigan State surprised a lot of people on Tuesday night, including its own head coach.
EXCLUSIVE: @GoodmanHoops with @MSU_Basketball's Tom Izzo after their wire-to-wire win over Duke:
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) November 11, 2026
"I am a little surprised. I think that's a really, really good (Duke) team"
🎥: https://t.co/8FB6yWvoNw pic.twitter.com/gWbpkypN7p
Izzo is always showing respect to opposing teams and coaches in his post-game pressers, but he’s reiterated that he believes Duke is arguably the best team in the country. He’s used to his teams needing a little time to reach their full potential but the Spartans are firing on all cylinders in Week 2. That’s enough to surprise even him.
You’re not in the minority, Tom. Michigan State’s performance against Duke surprised about 99.9% of college basketball fans and media. That remaining 0.1% call East Lansing home and have seen this movie before.
Jeremy Fears wasn’t surprised
There aren’t many college basketball players who lead the way Fears does. He commands a ton of respect from his teammates and he holds them everyone, including himself, accountable at all times. You can see him coaching up his teammates after fouls, turnovers, or sloppy mistakes — that’s the sign of a great leader.
Fears is a natural leader and a winner. He knows how to win, he expects to win, and he expects his teammates to play up to their potential. He returned because he believed MSU could win it all.
Tuesday night didn’t surprise him or his teammates.
The team would say that they expected to play like this and Fears even alluded to the fact that he didn’t play his best — he’s his own toughest critic — and yet Michigan State still led for 40 minutes and won by two possessions. Fears has an “I expect to win every game comfortably” mindset and the team is feeding off that confidence.
Michigan State is currently playing with a ton of confidence and surprising even its own Hall of Fame head coach. Rarely do MSU teams surprise Izzo this early in the season.
I’m not a coach, but that seems like a very good sign.
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