MSU Basketball Miraculously Survives Scare at Rutgers
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Good teams find ways to win, even when they play poorly.
No. 7 Michigan State was discombobulated nearly all Tuesday night, but still found a way to take down Rutgers in overtime, 88-79. Jeremy Fears Jr. led the way with a career-high 29 points and nine assists, but the key play was from Divine Ugochukwu, who tied the game with a three with 11.1 seconds to go.
The Spartans trailed nearly the entire game, with their final lead during regulation being at just 9-8. Somehow, someway, they still improve to 19-2 overall and 9-1 during Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights dropped to 9-12 and 2-8, respectively.
MSU, despite the emotional high, will now have to reset and prepare for a massive test against No. 3 Michigan on Friday. Tip-off that day is set for 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
First Half
The start to the game was quite frustrating for Michigan State, plagued by turnovers and the Scarlet Knights knocking down some difficult shots. After only making five threes all game against Indiana on Friday, Rutgers drilled five by the second media timeout tonight against MSU. The Scarlet Knights entered Tuesday shooting just 31.9% from deep.
That allowed Rutgers to take a 21-13 lead, with RU going on a run while Michigan State had a lot of its bench players in.
Turnovers kept happening for the Spartans. Michigan State ended up committing 10 of them during the first half, compared to just eight made shots. Rutgers was the much more physical team defensively, and it seemed to surprise MSU a bit. The Scarlet Knights also only committed one turnover, for comparison. Points of turnovers at the break were 17-0 in favor of the home team.
It didn't help that several players got into foul trouble. The Spartans didn't commit that many fouls, but it was consolidated into a few players. Fears, Jaxon Kohler, and Cam Ward were all relegated to the bench with two fouls apiece.
It was also the Tariq Francis show for Rutgers. He scored 12 points in the first half, shooting 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-4 from deep. RU's Darren Buchanan, who entered averaging 8.2 points per game, scored 10 across the first 20 minutes as well. Nobody for Michigan State scored more than five points.
All that added up to a 37-28 halftime lead for the Scarlet Knights. MSU carried some momentum into the locker room by finding Carson Cooper for a layup just before the buzzer, though.
Second Half
It didn't look like much changed immediately after halftime. Out of the gates, Rutgers hit a three after grabbing an offensive rebound, and then MSU turned it over for an 11th time on its first possession of the second half.
Michigan State tried to gather some momentum, but it felt like the Scarlet Knights had a necessary answer every time and constantly kept the difference at about 10. The Spartans just couldn't seem to find that big run they often had been finding in second halves. MSU had gotten it down to seven once, but then Rutgers immediately scored the next five to get it up to 12 again.
Just at that point, it seemed like Michigan State had a bit of a breakthrough. The Spartans went on a 7-0 run that narrowed the deficit to five, forcing a Rutgers timeout with 6:45 remaining. It only seemed like a breakthrough; RU hit another three-pointer out of the timeout, extending back out to eight, which held into the final media timeout.
It was like there was a cap on getting closer than five. MSU trailed by that deficit and had a 5-on-4 break, but turned it over again, which led to a fastbreak and two made free throws the other direction. The Spartans finally got it down to one possession with less than two minutes to go, with Jeremy Fears Jr. leading the way. Fears then did it again, converting a three-point play at the rim to tie it up.
Francis then drew a foul on a mid-range jumper with 59 seconds remaining; he went 2-for-2 to go up by two. Jaxon Kohler had a nice look at the top of the key from three, but he was short. MSU committed another foul on the rebound, and RU went 1-for-2 to go up three.
Fears cut it back down to two on a floater, but the Scarlet Knights made two more clutch free throws to extend it back to three. Again, Fears drew another foul and almost converted through the contact, but it rolled off. Fears, normally a reliable shooter, missed the first and then missed the second. Then Rutgers did the same thing, opening the door for Ugochukwu to step up and hit a three with 11.1 seconds remaining, forcing overtime at 73-73.
Overtime
Jaxon Kohler knocked down a pair of free throws to open the extra period, giving the Spartans their first lead since 9-8. A few minutes later, Kohler came through for an and-1, bringing the lead to five. Francis then hit a pair of three throws to bring RU within three with a bit more than two minutes to go.
It was then Fears again, who got matched with a big man, whom he easily blew by for two. That deficit was too much for Rutgers to come back from.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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