Fears Scores Career-High 29 Points as No. 7 Michigan State Storms Back to Beat Rutgers, 88-79, in Overtime

Tuesday, January 27

Piscataway, N.J.

6:30 PM

Michigan State University

19-2,9-1Big Ten

Rutgers

9-12,2-8Big Ten

OT 1

Michigan St.

Rutgers

Photo by: Getty Images

Fears Scores Career-High 29 Points as No. 7 Michigan State Storms Back to Beat Rutgers, 88-79, in Overtime

1/27/2026 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Gamebook Michigan State at Rutgers January 27, 2026 Michigan State 88, Rutgers 79 (OT)

Piscataway, N.J. – Redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 27 of his career-high 29 points in the second half and overtime and No. 7 Michigan fought back from an eight-point deficit with four minutes left to force overtime en route to an 88-79 win over Rutgers at The RAC on Tuesday night.

Fears scored 10 of MSU's 15 points in the overtime period to finish with 29 points, hitting 6-of-12 shots from the floor and a career-best 16-of-17 from the free throw line.

Four players scored in double figures for the Spartans, with senior center Carson Cooper scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for his second career double-double, junior forward Coen Carr added 13 points and eight rebounds and senior forward Jaxon Kohler chipped in 12 points (5 in overtime) and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Divine Ugochukwu finished with nine points, six rebounds and six assists.

Records
Michigan State, winners of seven-straight games, improves to 19-2 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten Conference, while Rutgers falls to 9-12 overall and 2-8 in league play.

Recap

Michigan State trailed by nine points (37-28) in the first half, were down as many as 12 points in the second half and trailed 65-57 with 4:40 left following a layup from RU's Dylan Grant.
Carr hit a 3-pointer with 3:41 to play as the Spartans pulled within 65-60 and cut it to three points, 67-64 on a layup from Fears with 1:52 to play.
After a Rutgers turnover, Fears hit a layup, was fouled and converted the free throw with 1:16 left to tied the game at 67-all, capping a 10-2 MSU run.
Rutgers went back ahead three points three times in the final minute, the last when Jamichael Davis hit 1-of-2, leaving MSU a chance to tie.
Fears found Ugochukwu on the left wing with 11 seconds left and he sank a 3-pointer to tie the game at 73-all and a last-second shot from Tariq Francis was off the mark.
Kohler hit a pair of free throws 11 seconds into the overtime period and both teams were scoreless for two minutes before Kohler converted a layup and the ensuing free throw to give the Spartans an 78-73 lead.
Francis hit free throws to make it 78-75 but Fears took over from there, scoring the final 10 points for Michigan State.
His layup with 1:50 left made it 80-75 and the floor general hit eight free throws in the final 57 seconds to seal the victory for MSU.
Michigan State led from start to finish, opening a 23-point lead at halftime (46-23).
The Spartans went into the break trailing, 37-28, the nine-point deficit their largest at halftime this season.
Rutgers took the early lead before a jumper from sophomore guard Kur Teng tied the game at 13-all.
The Scarlet Knights followed with an 8-0 run, all by Francis, who hit back-to-back 3-pointers and a jumper to take a 21-13 lead at 9:46, forcing MSU to call a timeout.
A dunk from junior forward Coen Carr pulled MSU to within 21-18 at 8:45, but RU went on an 8-0 run over 4:42 and extended its margin to 29-18.
During that span, MSU went scoreless for nearly five minutes, breaking it on a 3-pointer from freshman forward Jordan Scott, who hit two free throws to cut the lead back to six points, 29-23.
The Scarlet Knights used an 8-3 run over 1:18 and extended their lead to 37-26 before going into the break ahead 37-28.

Key Stats

Michigan State out-scored Rutgers, 31-14, over the final 9:40 of the second (the last 4:40 of regulation and the five-minute overtime period).
Michigan State connected on 92.3 percent of its free throws (24-of-26), including 16-of-17 from Fears.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 49.1 percent from the floor (28-of-57), including 58.6 percent in the second half (17-of-29).
MSU had a 45-22 advantage in rebounding, collected 13 offensive rebounds and scored 18 second chance points.
MSU outscored Rutgers in the paint, 38-22.
After turning the ball over 10 times in the first half, the Spartans just five in the second half and overtime.
- Rutgers scored 17 points off 10 first half MSU turnovers.

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Rutgers 15-3, and has won the last three games in the series and four of the last five overall.
- MSU is 5-3 all-time on the road against Rutgers and this was the team's first win at The RAC since 2018.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is now 14-3 all-time against Rutgers.
Izzo's career record is now 756-304 in his 31st year at the helm of the MSU program.
MSU has an all-time record of 456-210 in the month of December.
- The Spartans have an all-time record of 175-42 under Izzo in December.
MSU is 4-1 on the road this year (all Big Ten Conference games).
This was the first overtime win for MSU since a 94-91 win over North Carolina on Nov. 27, 2024 in the Maui Invitational.
- Michigan State is 21-20 all-time in overtime under Izzo.
The Spartans are 4-0 when trailing at the half.
- The nine-point deficit to Rutgers was the largest of the season.
MSU scored 88 points, the 11th time this season with at least 80.
- The Spartans are 11-0 when scoring at least 80 points.
Michigan State shot a season-high 49.1 percent from the floor (28-of-57).
- The Spartans are 10-0 when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor.
The Spartans out-shot their opponent (49.1 percent to 40.3 percent) for the 19th time this season and are 18-1 in those situations.
- MSU is 19-2 when holding opponents to below 50 percent from the floor.
This was the 17th time Michigan State has connected on at least 45.0 percent of its field goals and the team is 17-0 when hitting that mark.
The 79 points scored by Rutgers were the most allowed by MSU this year and just the fourth opponent to score more than 70 points.
MSU controlled the battle of the boards (45-23) for the 20th time this season.
- The Spartans are 19-1 when outrebounding their opponent.
Jeremy Fears Jr. scored a career-high 29 points and handed out nine assists.
- He has scored in double figures 15 times this year and 27 for his career.
- This was the 12th time this season he has handed out at least nine assists.
- Fears has led the team in assists 21 times this year and 43 for his career.
- He led the team in scoring for the seventh time this season.
- Fears has led MSU in scoring the last two games and four of the last five overall.
- He also tied a career-high of 35 minutes played, previously set twice, the last at Nebraska on Jan. 2, 2026.
Carson Cooper scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for his second double-double of this year, and his career.
- This was his 13th game in double figures this year and the 17th of his career.
- He has three games this year with at least 10 boards and six for his career.
- He led the team in rebounding for the seventh time this season and the 23rd of his career.
- Cooper's 36 minutes played were also a career-best
Jaxon Kohler finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
- He has scored in double figures in 19 games this year and 30 for his career.
Coen Carr scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
- This was his 11th game in double figures this season and 25th of his career.
Ugochukwu finished with nine points, six rebounds and six assists in 29 minutes.
- His six rebounds and six assists were both season-best marks, along with his minutes played.
- This marked the fourth game this season he has hit at least two 3-pointers in a game.

Up Next
Michigan State returns home to host in-state rival Michigan on Friday, Jan. 30 at the Breslin Center. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. on FOX, with Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery calling all of the action.