Fears Propels No. 10 Michigan State Past No. 5 Illinois in Overtime Thriller at the Breslin Center, 85-82

Saturday, February 7

East Lansing, Mich.

8 PM

Michigan State University

20-4,10-3Big Ten

Illinois

20-4,11-2Big Ten

OT 1

Illinois

Michigan St.

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

Fears Propels No. 10 Michigan State Past No. 5 Illinois in Overtime Thriller at the Breslin Center, 85-82

2/7/2026 11:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Gamebook Illinois at Michigan St. 07 February Michigan State 85, Illinois 82 (OT)

East Lansing, Mich. – Redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 22 of his game-high points in the second half and overtime to lead four players in double figures as No. 10 Michigan State beat No. 5 Illinois, 85-82, in an overtime thriller at a raucous Breslin Center on Saturday night.

Fears hit 7-of-19 shots from the floor and 12-of-13 from the free throw line while handing out 15 assists.

Senior forward Jaxon Kohler had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, freshman forward Jordan Scott added 10 points and four rebounds and sophomore guard Kur Teng finished with 10 points, including a 3-pointer that tied the game with 8.5 seconds left in regulation.

Senior center Carson Cooper added nine points and eight rebounds and junior forward Coen Carr finished with eight points and eight rebounds, while freshman forward Cam Ward had eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Records
Michigan State improves to 20-4 overall and 10-3 in the Big Ten Conference, while Illinois falls to 20-4 overall and 11-2 in league play.

Recap

After trailing by as many as nine points (44-35) early in the second half, the teams traded the lead five times before Illinois twice took five-point leads, the last at 63-58 following a layup from Andrej Stojakovic.
The Spartans narrowed the gap to one point twice before taking a 68-67 lead on free throws from Scott with 1:49 left.
Illinois went back up 69-68 with 32 seconds left before a 3-pointer from Teng with 8.5 seconds left gave MSU a 71-69 lead, with the Illini hitting two free throws with 1.0 second left to tie the game and send it to overtime.
MSU jumped out to a 74-71 lead in the first minute of overtime before Illinois tied it on a 3-pointer from Tomislav Ivisic and extended the lead to 76-74 on free throws from Keaton Wagler.
Fears tied the game with a pair of free throws, and then followed up with a conventional three-point play to make it 79-76 and a tip-in from Ward gave MSU an 81-76 lead with 1:01 left.
Fears hit four free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the 85-82 win.
The Spartans trailed by four (39-35) at the break and Illinois pushed the lead to nine points, 44-35 on a 3-poitner from Stojakovic and free throws from Wagler before the Spartans inched closer, setting up the wild finish and overtime.
Michigan State trailed from the start and fell behind by 11 points (32-21) at halftime as Minnesota maintained its lead in the early minutes of the second half.
The Spartans went into the half trailing by four points, 39-35, with Illinois breaking a 33-all tie by scoring six of the final eight points with free throws from Wagler (his first points of the game) giving the Illini a 39-35 lead.
The teams went back and forth over the opening 20 minutes, with six ties and nine lead changes and neither team leading by more than six points.
Illinois took its biggest lead of the half, 31-25, on a 3-pointer from Ben Humrichous, with 4:46 left before the break, but the Spartans with a pair of treys, first from senior guard Trey Fort and then from Kohler, tying the game.
The Spartans tied the game at 33-all on a jumper from Scott with 2:43 to play before the Illini took the lead at the break, 39-35.

Key Stats

Michigan State held a 48-38 advantage in rebounding, including a 29-21 edge in the second half and overtime.
The Spartans scored 36 points in the paint, including 22 in the second half and overtime.
MSU held Illinois to just 36.6 percent shooting from the floor, including 27.8 percent from 3-point land.
Michigan State turned the ball over six times in the first half, but just twice in the second half and overtime.
The Spartans connected on 87.0 percent of their free throws (20-of-23).

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Illinois, 68-64, and has won the last four meetings in the series.
- MSU has an all-time record of 43-21 at home against Illinois, including a 20-8 record at the Breslin Center.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is now 31-22 all-time against Illinois.
Izzo's career record is now 757-306 in his 31st year at the helm of the MSU program.
Michigan State has won at least 20 games in a season in 14 of the last 15 seasons under Izzo … Izzo has 25 20-win season at Michigan State and has missed the plateau only twice since 2003-04.
MSU is 12-2- at home this season
The Spartans have an all-time record of 499-78 at home since the Breslin Center opened in 1989, including a 267-61 record in league play.
The Spartans are 5-2 when trailing at the half.
- This was the fourth-straight game the team has trailed at the half.
This was the second overtime win for the Spartans this year, including a win at Rutgers on Jan. 27.
- Michigan State is 22-20 all-time in overtime under Izzo.
MSU scored 85 points, the 12th time this season scoring at least 80.
- The Spartans are 12-0 when scoring at least 80 points and 18-2 when scoring at least 70 points.
The Spartans out-shot Illinois (43.3% to 36.6%), the 20th time shooting better than their opponent (19-1).
- MSU is 10-4 when shooting below 50 percent.
MSU had a 48-38 advantage in rebounding, the 22nd time winning the battle of the boards (20-2).
This was the sixth game this season the Spartans had fewer than 10 turnovers.
Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 26 points and handed out a game-high 15 assists.
- His 15 assists are the third-most in a single-game in Michigan State history.
- Fears has scored in double figures 18 times this year and 30 for his career.
- This was the 10th time this season with at least 10 assists and the 12th of his career.
- He recorded his seventh double-double of the season and the eighth of his career.
- Fears has led the team in assists 24 times this year and 46 for his career.
- He has led the team in scoring nine times this year and 10 for his career.
- Fears played a career-best 42 minutes (42:30).
Jaxon Kohler finished with 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds
- This was his 11th double-double of the season.
- It was the 11th game this year with at least 10 rebounds and the 23rd of his career.
- He has scored in double figures 20 times this year and 31 for his career.
- This was the 14th time he has led the team in rebounding this year and the 35th of his career.
Jordan Scott scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in his second career start.
- This was his fourth career game in double figures.
Kur Teng scored 10 points off the bench.
- This was ninth game in double figures this year and the ninth for his career.

Up Next
Michigan State is off until next Friday, Feb. 13, visiting Wisconsin. The game will air on FOX (8 p.m.), with Jason Benetti and Steve Smith calling the action.