Monday, January 5
East Lansing, Mich.
8:30 PM
Michigan State University
13-2,3-1Big Ten
80
vs
51
USC
12-3,1-3Big Ten
1
2
F
Southern California
17
34
51
Michigan St.
33
47
80
Photo by: Rey Del Rio
Carr Leads Three in Double Figures as No. 12 Michigan State Beats USC, 80-51, as Tom Izzo Wins 750th Career Game
1/5/2026 11:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Junior forward Coen Carr scored 18 points to lead three players in double figures as No. 12 Michigan State held USC to 17 first half points en route to an 80-51 win on Monday night at the Breslin Center.
Carr scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, while adding six rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot.
Redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. added 15 points and handed out a game-high seven assists and senior forward Jaxon Kohler had 16 points, eight rebound and two assists.
The win gave Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo his 750th career victory.
Records
Michigan State improves to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten Conference, while USC falls to 12-3 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Recap
Michigan State plays the second game of a three-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 8, hosting Northwestern at the Breslin Center. The game will air live on BTN at 6:30 p.m., with Chris Vosters and LaPhonso Ellis calling all of the action.
Carr scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, while adding six rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot.
Redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. added 15 points and handed out a game-high seven assists and senior forward Jaxon Kohler had 16 points, eight rebound and two assists.
The win gave Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo his 750th career victory.
Records
Michigan State improves to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten Conference, while USC falls to 12-3 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Recap
- After trailing 5-2 in the opening minutes of the game, Michigan State used 10-0 run, taking the lead for good when sophomore guard Divine Ugochukwu fed senior center Carson Cooper for an alley-oop at 14:34.
- The Spartans led for good from that point, extending their lead to 10 points, 19-9, on a dunk from freshman forward Cam Ward with 8:01 left in the break.
- Leading 19-11 after a layup from USC's Chad Baker-Mazara, the Spartans went used a 14-4 run to take their biggest lead of the half when Kohler fed Ugochukwu for a layup at 2:52, pushing the lead to 33-14.
- MSU led by 16 points, 33-17, at the break and extended the lead to 21 points, 44-23, when Fears hit a jumper at the 17:24 mark.
- The Trojans pulled to within 18 points, 44-28, on a layup from Jerry Easter II before Kohler, Fears (twice) and Kur each hit jumpers to extend the margin to 54-30.
- A steal and layup from graduate guard Denham Wojcik gave MSU a 58-33 lead with 11:36 to play and the Spartans took their biggest lead of the game on a 3-pointer from freshman forward Jordan Scott with 45 seconds left.
- Michigan State shot 50.0 percent from the floor (30-of-60), including 57.1 percent (16-of-28) in the second half.
- The Spartans had a 39-30 advantage in rebounding and outscored USC, 30-26, in the paint.
- The Spartans forced 17 turnovers and scored 16 points off turnovers.
- MSU scored 25 points on the fast break.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with USC, 5-4.
- The Spartans are 2-0 all-time at home against the Trojans.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is now 3-1 all-time vs. USC.
- Izzo's career record is now 750-304 in his 31st year at the helm of the MSU program.
- Coach Izzo is now one of eight active Division I head coaches with at least 750 wins.
- MSU is 8-1 at home this year.
- The Spartans are 11-1 when leading at the half.
- The Spartans have an all-time record of 170-43 under Izzo in December, including a 118-16 record at the Breslin Center.
- Michigan State scored 80 points, the seventh time this season with at least 80 points.
- The Spartans are 7-0 when scoring at least 80 points and 12-0 when scoring at least 70 points.
- MSU held USC to 51 points, the sixth time holding an opponent to less than 60 points.
- The Spartans are 5-1 when holding opponents below 60 points.
- Michigan State shot 50.0 percent from the floor (30-for-60), the seventh time this season hitting at least half of their field goals.
- The Spartans are 7-0 when shooting at least 50.0 percent.
- The Spartans held USC to 32.7 percent shooting from the floor (18-of-55) and just 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from 3-point land.
- The Spartans are 13-2 when out-shooting their opponent.
- MSU is 13-2 when holding opponents to below 50 percent from the floor.
- The Spartans held USC to just three shots from 3-point land, the fewest by an opponent this season.
- MSU controlled the battle of the boards (39-30) for the 13th time this season.
- The Spartans are 13-1 when outrebounding their opponent.
- The Spartans collected 10 offensive rebounds, the 14th game with at least 10 on the offensive glass.
- Coen Carr scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds.
- This was the 10th game in double figures this season for Carr and the 24th of his career.
- He has led the team in scoring three times this year and six in his career.
- Senior forward Jaxon Kohler added 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
- He has scored in double figures 15 times this year and 27 for his career.
- This was his ninth time leading the team in rebounds this year and the 30th of his career.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 15 points and handed out a game-high seven assists.
- He has scored in double figures nine times this year and 21 for his career.
- Fears has 13 games this season with at least seven assists.
- He has led the team in assists 14 times this year and 36 for his career.
Michigan State plays the second game of a three-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 8, hosting Northwestern at the Breslin Center. The game will air live on BTN at 6:30 p.m., with Chris Vosters and LaPhonso Ellis calling all of the action.
Team Stats
USC
MSU
FG%
.327
.500
3FG%
.176
.318
FT%
.750
.722
RB
30
39
TO
17
12
STL
6
9
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballTom Izzo Post Game Comments | NW | Jan. 8 2026
Thursday, January 08
Tom Izzo | Men's Basketball Press Conference | Jan. 06 2026
Tuesday, January 06
Tom Izzo Post Game Comments | USC | Jan. 5 2026
Monday, January 05
Tom Izzo Post Game Comments | COR | Dec. 29 2025
Monday, December 29