Fears Leads Six in Double Figures as No. 9 Michigan State Beats Cornell, 114-97

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored a career-high 21 points and handed out 11 assists as No. 9 Michigan State broke open a close game en route to a 114-97 win over Cornell on Monday night at the Breslin Center.

Fears recorded his third double-double of the season and handed out at least 10 assists for the seventh time this season, leading six players in double figures as 11 different Spartans scored.

Senior forward Jaxon Kohler had his fourth-straight double-double and eighth of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds, junior forward Coen Carr scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds, senior guard Trey Fort had 14 points, three rebounds and two assists, sophomore guard Divine Ugochukwu added 12 points and three assists and sophomore guard Kur Teng chipped in 10 points.

Records
Michigan State, winners of four-straight games, improves to 12-1 overall, while Cornell falls to 6-6.

Recap

Cornell had led for more than 15 minutes in the first half before Michigan State went into the break with a 55-53 lead, thanks to a last second layup from Fears.
Cooper Noard hit a 3-pointer in the opening minute to give the Big Red the lead at 56-55 but the Spartans used a 12-2 run over 2:38 and took a 67-58 lead on a fast break layup from Fears with 16:25 left, forcing Cornell to call a timeout.
Freshman forward Cam Ward hit a jumper to push the lead to double-digits, 69-58, and a 3-pointer from Fort gave MSU a 72-60 lead, capping a 17-4 run.
Leading 76-65 with 12:39 left, the Spartans used a 13-1 run and took an 89-6 lead on a layup from Ugochukwu with 8:34 left.
A jumper from Teng (4:05) pushed MSU over the 100-point park for a 101-80 lead and the Spartans took their biggest lead of the game, 109-83, on a pair of free throws from Kohler with 2:31 to play in the game.
Cornell jumped on top of the Spartans early minutes of the game, with 3-pointers from Noard and Adam Hinton giving the visitors a 15-4 lead at 16:09.
The Big Red led by nine points three times in the second half, the latter at 28-19 after a layup from Fiegen near the mid-point of the first half.
MSU used a 10-3 run and pulled to within two points, 31-29, following a conventional three-point play from Fears and the Spartans took their first lead of the game, 37-35, on a 3-pointer from Teng with 5:46 left before the break.
There were five ties and five lead changes over the final five minutes of the period.
MSU took its biggest lead, 51-47, after three free throws from Teng 1:42 left and Cornell took a 53-51 lead on a layup from Fiegen before a layup from Carr tied it and Fears drove the length of the floor to give the Spartans a 55-53 lead at the break.

Key Stats

After being out-rebounded (18-17) in the first half, MSU had a 28-15 advantage in the second half, including 10 offensive rebounds and 18 points in the paint.
Michigan State shot 55.4 percent from the floor (36-of-65), including 46.4 percent from 3-point land (13-of-28).
The Spartans handed out 30 assists on 36 made field goals.
MSU scored 33 points on the fast break, including 18 in the second half.

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Cornell, 6-1.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is 2-0 all-time vs. the Big Red.
- The Spartans are now 21-5 all-time against schools from the Ivy League.
Izzo's career record improved to 749-303 in his 31st year at the helm of the MSU program.
The Spartans have an all-time record of 170-41 under Izzo in December, including a 118-16 record at the Breslin Center.
The 114 points scored by MSU are the most by an MSU team since beating Michigan, 114-63, on March 4, 2000.
- The 114 points are tied for the second-most by a Tom Izzo-coached team at Michigan State, with 118 in a 118-60 win over Alcorn State on Dec. 13, 2008 the most.
- The school record for points in a game is 121 in a 121-53 win over Morehead State on Dec. 1, 1992.
The Spartans are 10-1 when leading at the half.
MSU is 11-0 when shooting better than its opponent (55.4% to 45.7%).
Michigan State shot a season-high 55.4 percent (36-of-65), the 10th time this season hitting at least 50.0 percent.
- The Spartans hit a season-high 36 field goals and tied a season-best with 13 made 3-pointers.
Cornell is just the third team to shoot above 40 percent against the Spartans.
The Spartans scored 114 points, the 11th time this season scoring at least 70.
- MSU is 11-0 when scoring at least 70 points.
- Cornell is the third team to score more at least 70 points against the Spartans.
MSU controlled the battle of the boards (44-33) for the 12th time this season.
- The Spartans are 12-0 when outrebounding their opponent.
- The Spartans collected 15 offensive rebounds, the 12th game with at least 10 on the offensive glass, scoring 15 second-chance points.
Michigan State handed out a season-high 30 assists, the 10th game with at least 18.
- It was the first time an MSU team had at least 30 assists since handing out 33 in a win over Stony Brook on Dec. 21, 2023.
Jeremy Fears Jr. scored a career-high 21 points and handed out 11 assists.
- It was his third double-double of the season and the fourth of his career.
- He has scored in double figures seven times this year and 19 for his career.
- Fears has six games this year with at least 10 assists and eight for his career.
- This was his third time leading the team in scoring this year, the fourth for his career.
Coen Carr scored 19 points, his third-straight game in double figures.
- Carr tied a career-best with eight field goals and tied his career mark with 13 attempts.
- Carr tied his season-high with seven rebounds.
- He set a career-high with nine made free throws and had a career-best 16 attempts.
Senior forward Jaxon Kohler had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
- This was his eighth double-double of the season.
- He is the first MSU player with four-straight double-doubles since Xavier Tillman Sr. in 2020 (at Michigan, 2/8/20; at Illinois, 2/11/20; vs. Maryland, 2/15/20, at Nebraska, 2/20/20).
- Kohler has eight games this year with at least 10 rebounds and 20 for his career.
- He has led the team in rebounding eight times this year and 29 for his career.
- He has scored in double figures 13 times this year and 25 for his career.
Trey Fort finished with 14 points, grabbed three rebounds and had two assists.
- Fort has scored in double figures two times this year and 29 times in his career.
Divine Ugochukwu scored 12 points, grabbed two rebounds and had three assists.
- This was his third game in double figures this year and the sixth of his career.
- He tied a season-high with two rebounds and set a season-best with three assists.
Kur Teng scored 10 points, his fifth game in double figures this year and for his career.
- He tied a career-high with three rebounds.

Up Next
Michigan State starts the New Year on Friday, Jan. 2, returning to Big Ten Conference play with a matchup at No. 13 Nebraska. The game tips at 9 p.m. (ET) on Peacock, with Noah Reed and Nick Bahe calling all of the action.

Fears Leads Six in Double Figures as No. 9 Michigan State Beats Cornell, 114-97

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Team Stats

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Coen Carr

Trey Fort

Divine Ugochukwu

Players Mentioned

Coen Carr

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Trey Fort

Jaxon Kohler

Kur Teng

Divine Ugochukwu

Cam Ward

Fears Leads Six in Double Figures as No. 9 Michigan State Beats Cornell, 114-97

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Coen Carr

Trey Fort

Divine Ugochukwu

Players Mentioned

Coen Carr

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Trey Fort

Jaxon Kohler

Kur Teng

Divine Ugochukwu

Cam Ward

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