Jeremy Fears was quietly the reason Michigan State basketball beat Oakland

There’s been a lot of love shown for Jeremiah Fears over the past 24 hours and I think Michigan State basketball star Jeremy Fears is getting overlooked a little bit. Yes, his younger brother has become an overnight sensation at Oklahoma as a true freshman, but a lot of people have been saying things like “the Sooners got the better brother” and that simply is not a fair statement.

Jeremiah is a great scorer and is one of the main reasons Oklahoma is relevant again and sitting at 11-0 after beating Michigan on Wednesday night via an incredible four-point play with 11.5 seconds left.

But Jeremy has been one of the main reasons Michigan State has returned to prominence as well. He’s fully healthy after his freshman season got cut short due to a gunshot wound in the leg he suffered around Christmas time last year. He’s an elite leader and it feels like he’s going to develop into one of the best point guards that Tom Izzo has ever coached.

Both Fears brothers bring something different to the table and they’re both elite at what they do.

So while Jeremiah is receiving his flowers for his play that led to a win over Michigan on Wednesday, we also need to credit Jeremy for his play against Oakland which was the difference in that game on Tuesday.

According to Izzo, Jeremy Fears came up to him at halftime and asked to guard DQ Cole who had 15 points on five 3-pointers in the first half which led to that slim 31-30 lead for the Spartans. Cole was killing the Spartans from deep.

What did he do in the second half? He scored just two points and that was thanks to Fears’ defense and his leadership ability, demanding to guard the leading scorer in the final 20 minutes.

MSU HC Tom Izzo says sophomore guard Jeremy Fears asked to guard Oakland guard DQ Cole at half time.

Izzo said he thinks it was the difference and won MSU the game.

— Kenny Jordan (@Kenny_Jordan5) December 18, 2024

It was the ability to step up and say “I want the leading scorer” on the defensive end and being able to shut him down. Cole scoring just two points in the second half and getting no good looks from deep was why Michigan State was able to pull away.

Fears was responsible for that.