MSU's Fears Breaks Down Spartans' B1G Tournament Loss to UCLA
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CHICAGO --- Jeremy Fears Jr. didn't mince words with how he felt about Michigan State's Friday night loss.
"It's kind of embarrassing for us," Fears said after the Spartans' 88-84 defeat against UCLA. "Obviously, they [UCLA] played good. Credit to them, not taking anything away from them... This game, they out-rebounded us, out-physicaled us, made the winning plays. And it was just like, 'the next [loss] is your season [ending].' So something's gotta change soon."
Fears had a pretty good game on the stat sheet. He scored 21 points (7-for-14 shooting) and dished out 13 assists. That passed Cassius Winston for the most assists in a single season in program history. Fears is up to 294 assists on the year; Winston had 291 during his 2018-19 season.
MSU and Fears will now await their NCAA Tournament draw, with the bracket set to come out Sunday evening. The Spartans still might be in decent shape to get a 2 seed, but that status is in some doubt after being eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament in just one game. Another Quad 1 win over a team like the Bruins would have probably sealed it.
More from Fears Postgame
More from Fears on Loss
The most glaring problem from Friday night was the poor on-ball defense against the Bruins' guards. UCLA point guard Donovan Dent seemed to be cutting past Fears or Jordan Scott at will, often leading to kick-outs for open three-point tries.
Friday happened to be a night where the Bruins, who led the Big Ten in three-point percentage during conference play, were ready to knock them down. UCLA went 13-for-27 (48.1%) from deep, which is tied for the third-most made threes Michigan State has allowed in a game all season. MSU's opponents have also now made at least 10 threes in five straight contests, another troubling trend.
"I didn't do my part today," Fears said when asked about the Bruins' consistent dribble penetration. "I didn't guard the ball. I didn't try to make it hard for him. Dent is a great point guard in the league, but I didn't do my part today. It starts with me. I didn't do my part, and I let the guys down."
The good part is that the Big Ten Tournament's importance is minimized when one looks at what's coming next. A deep run in March Madness can wash away any bad memories of a one-and-done conference tournament. Tom Izzo's teams in 2001, 2005, and 2010 all lost their first Big Ten tourney game and reached the Final Four.
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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