MSU's Jeremy Fears Jr. Called Out For Dirty Plays Against Gophers

The Gophers snapped a seven-game losing streak in cathartic fashion on Wednesday night, becoming just the fourth team this season to beat No. 10 Michigan State. The win, which Niko Medved's team controlled for basically the entire game, set off the third court storm of this season at Williams Arena.

A big story coming out of the night, at least on the Michigan State side of things, involved Jeremy Fears Jr., the Spartans' star point guard who leads the country in assists. Fears scored 10 points in the game and dished out 11 assists. But it wasn't his performance that became a discussion — it was a series of dirty-looking plays from the junior guard, all of which had Minnesota's Langston Reynolds on the receiving end.

Twice, Fears was on the ground and appeared to unnaturally stick out a leg in an effort to trip Reynolds. There was a play on defense that he finished by extending an elbow into Reynolds' face. And the one that drew the most attention came when he swung his back leg up into Reynolds' crotch area after getting fouled, earning a technical foul following an appeal from the Gophers' bench.

Jeremy Fears. pic.twitter.com/ArnjHNpqwN
— The Winged Helmet (@TWH_Chris) February 5, 2026

Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. was given a technical foul on this play. pic.twitter.com/q03PMlmOzl
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 5, 2026

This isn't the first time Fears has been involved in similar controversy. In the Spartans' most recent game before Wednesday, a loss to rival Michigan, he was caught tripping a Wolverines player and was called out by Michigan coach Dusty May.

After Wednesday's game, Michigan State coach Tim Izzo said he wasn't sure if he was going to start Fears in the Spartans' next game. He also seemed to at least somewhat place the blame on May calling out Fears, saying that players are now baiting him into these situations.

"When somebody comes out and publicly says something about a guy, that sometimes happens," Izzo said. "But that's Jeremy's fault. ... Are they baiting him? Well of course. When you go public with something, you should get baited. And it's his fault. And I make no bones about it. I don't even know if I'm gonna start him the next game. ... Jeremy's gotta grow up a little bit."

Medved also commented on the situation after the game.

"I'll say this, he's taken a lot of heat and all that," Medved said. "He's a great player, and Coach Gates on our staff coached his brother, knows the family. I know he's a great kid. He's a competitor. that's who he is. Yeah, he gets a little carried away. And we saw that on on film, and I thought they did the right thing that way, but he's a great player. He's a guy you'd love to have on your team. But also, you can't do what he did, and I guarantee you he knows that, but he's a great player."

Fears and MSU have a huge game coming up against Illinois on Saturday. Medved and the Gophers will look to pick up a second straight win when they host Maryland (1-9 in the Big Ten) on Sunday.

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