2 Changes Needed for MSU to Go Deep in March

Michigan State won't go very far in March with how it is playing right now.

The Spartans have now lost three of their last four after a 92-71 blowout loss at Wisconsin on Friday night. This game exposed a couple of differnet flaws for MSU that have to be fixed, or at least patched up, by the time the official 68-team bracket gets unveiled a month from Sunday.

Problems for the Spartans

Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. hunches over during a game against Michigan at the Breslin Center on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Too Much Fears

Michigan State has played its best this season when it hasn't required point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. to give it Herculean efforts every single night. On the second game of the season, Fears only provided four points, but that was still enough for MSU to take down now-No. 21 Arkansas. He also only had eight points in the Spartans' blowout win over Kentucky.

Across MSU's last five games, Fears has averaged 22.0 points and 10.8 assists. One of those games was a win over then-No. 5 Illinois, but it required Fears to drop 26 and 15 for the Spartans to eek out a win at home. Michigan State also needed 29 and 9 from him to barely scrape by against Rutgers. He scored 31 points with seven assists against now-No. 2 Michigan, and even that wasn't enough.

Fears "only" had 14 points and 12 assists on Friday, and the Spartans got blown out. He also "only" had 10 points and 11 assists against Minnesota last week, and MSU was trailing that game the entire way. These are objecitvely solid performances, but Fears is not getting enough scoring help right now.

According to KenPom, Fears has an assist rate of 54.2%, which is the percentage of how many of his teammates' baskets are off his passes while he's on the court. Not only is that the top number in the nation this year, but it's tied for the highest number in any season since KenPom began tracking it in 2003-04. Fears is still probably the best distributor in the country, but that number being that high feels like it's out of necessity for Michigan State.

More Involvement from Bigs

MSU was also playing better when it felt like Jaxon Kohler was more of an offensive threat. He began his season with 17 consecutive double-digit scoring nights. He hasn't scored more than 12 in the eight games since and has been held to single figures four times. Kohler's five points on Friday was his second-lowest number of the season.

Michigan State also needs more Carson Cooper. He was dealing with some foul trouble on Friday, holding him to just 19 minutes, but that's at least partially on him to play without fouling, and six points from him isn't enough. Cooper was held to fewer than 10 points for the fourth straight game on Friday, which is his first such drought this season.

Wisconsin guard John Blackwell (25) drives on Michigan State guard Kur Teng (2) during the second half of their game Friday, February 13, 2026 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat 10th ranked Michigan State 92-71. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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