Post-Game Quotes: Duke - Michigan State University Athletics

Tuesday, November 10

Chicago, Ill.

7 PM

Michigan State University

3-0,0-0Big Ten

No. 2 Duke

2-1,0-0ACC

Team	1	2	F
Michigan St.	34	45	79
Duke	25	48	73

Jordan Scott against Duke in the 2026 Champions Classic

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

11/11/2026 11:27:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

State Farm Champions Classic: Kentucky vs Michigan State
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Michigan State Spartans
Coach Tom Izzo
Press Conference

Michigan State 79, Duke 73

TOM IZZO: In these preseason games, it's so hard to play these kind of games this early. I want to first say that I made a lot of comments that I absolutely love Duke's team. I still love them. They missed a lot of shots early that I thought were wide-open shots for them and we didn't make some plays defensively.
For Jordan Scott to get nine rebounds and six blocks, I'm sure Grant Hill isn't happy since he came from his high school, but that was a big thing for him. These two guys are really good, and yet Jeremy missed five free throws. He didn't miss that many in half a year last year.

So we did some things that were really good and we did some things taking care of the ball. I don't know what we ended up with in turnovers. I need my glasses now. It was 13, about the same as them. Rebounding, they got a couple at the end. That was a pretty good battle rebounding.

But I really believe that we played our best basketball of the year. But we're three games into the year, so big deal.

Questions?

Q. The defensive performance from your group, in particular Jordan Scott and the way he played, he had six or seven blocks. The whole night with him, what did you see from his performance?
TOM IZZO: It wasn't just him. I mean, our other guys, I mean, we're still struggling a little with our bigs, getting up on ball screens and things like that. It's going to be a process here, maybe a long process, but we're going to get better at it.
This was a good test. They are such a good team and he's such a good coach. You guys don't realize how hard it is to do what he's done, taking over for arguably the best coach maybe that ever coached the game. So that's not easy.
I think Jon has done it with class. They will be very, very good. But at the same time, it just goes to show our defense, what we've been talking about for 20 years, defend, rebound, and run. If you defend, you usually rebound better. The first half we defended better, we rebounded better, we ran better, and we got some easy buckets. And that's what we had to do.

Q. In particular that 11-2 start and the beginning of that first half that Jordan had with his length, what was he doing to be so disruptive in the passing lanes as well as kind of blocking some of those shots in and out?
TOM IZZO: Yeah, he got ones down. He tipped ones. I don't know how many deflections he had. But that was about as good as game as you can have for a guy that went 2 for 7, 1 for 4 from the three. Not impressive, and yet he probably changed the whole game himself with his defense, with his rebounding, with his effort-related stats. That's what we talked to our team about. You can put up with mistakes early in the year not effort related.

I thought Jeremy was challenged this week a lot, and because you're given a rank, you have a responsibility to live up to that ranking.
I thought he was okay in the first couple games. I didn't think he was Jeremy-like. Tonight I thought he played hard. It was nice that a CJ comes in and makes a couple shots, Jasiah makes a couple shots early. Even Ethan, a couple big plays, we've just got to get those bigs better at the ball screens and the things they've got to do defensively. Right now that's a little bit of a work in progress.

Q. Talk a little bit about your team's toughness tonight, and did it seem like a home game late in the second half?
TOM IZZO: Yeah, it really did. I want to thank our fans in Chicago. We had a lot of people that came from a lot of places. That's the advantage of this tournament. Like at the NCAA time, you figure out where you're going and everybody has got three days to get there and flights. Here you can plan for this, fraternity brothers, sorority sisters, they can plan for this, coming to Chicago.
That's why this game has been so important to me. I know the other three teams in it maybe been there for a lot of years. We arrived 20 years ago or so, and we've maintained, and I don't know what we are in this thing now, but we're not -- we've held up our end of the bargain, and that's what I've been most proud of.
We've been consistent over time, and right now consistency means a lot to me.

Q. What about never really letting them get momentum --
TOM IZZO: Yeah, I did think we played with a little more toughness. The young guys, I mean, Jasiah had to do some things, and I thought when Caleb came in he did some things; Kur. We battled them, and that's what we had to do. It's a very talented and very good team.
They just, to me, some of it was us, some of it was them tonight. Don't bet them against.

Q. There was a narrative built about a year or two ago about how Michigan State doesn't belong in these types of events. You combine that with Michigan State's not so great record against Duke, how gratifying is wins like this tonight?
TOM IZZO: The other one is I think we're 9-7 in this thing now, and I think Duke is -- I think we're 7-9, I think they're 9-7 or something like that. So I'm not apologizing for that.
But as far as beating Duke, I'm apologizing to our fans, to my wife, to my kids because they've beaten us like a drum. Now, the last four or five times we've kind of gained momentum because a lot of people are saying that so it pisses me off and maybe I've done a better job.
Now, they deserve what they've gotten against us, but we haven't taken a backseat to anybody either, and I don't plan on taking a backseat in the near future or in the far future, to be honest with you.

Q. What does it say, second straight year Cam has had a big game early. Does he just need to snap into it a little quicker or what did you think of his performance overall?
TOM IZZO: Remember last year he had that injury with the wrist and that really set him back. Cam is another one that got challenged last week. I know Doug challenged him, and Doug did a great job with the scouting report and he spent a lot of time with Cam on his free-throw shooting, and maybe one of the unsung heroes was the fact that he went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, you know.
That stretch he had before halftime was big for us. That's what he should be doing. Guys get better. Some of the guys that they've had that have gotten a lot better did not play as well tonight, and that's what happens in some. Ngongba, God if you look at him from last year to this year he's improved a lot. He didn't have a great game tonight. Some of it was probably us, some of it was them. That's what happens in these early-season games. You know I am still a Blackwell fan. He almost brought him back at the end. Great kid.
You know, it was two good teams, and we found a way to get ahead early and kept the momentum, and I think that's why we won the game.

Q. Tom, obviously it's been a big few days for Michigan State athletics. Michigan State takes home Paul Bunyan against Michigan and you get this one in Chicago. Talk about how excited you are to be a part of these big moments and coming back to East Lansing the students are going to be really excited?
TOM IZZO: That was very well said, but if you think that this win over Duke is as big as our football team's win over Michigan, you're on dial-a-clue.
So I just appreciate it, but now what I'm going to do is add on to what Pat Fitzgerald did. I'm not going to try to surpass that. There's just some things about rivalries, and this is a good rivalry. But this is a love affair rivalry. That's a Hatfield and McCoy rivalry. So there's a big difference in rivalries.

Q. Talk to us about being curious to start seeing how Jasiah would handle this game and moment. Now that you've seen it, what did you think about his poise and how he showed up on a big stage?
TOM IZZO: Yeah, I love Jasiah. You really look at all my freshmen, big kids, got some work to do yet. But if you look at Jasiah and you look at -- that was CJ's best game and he did a good job. Hit a couple of big shots. That's going to make him better.
We put him in at the end hoping he'd get fouled because he's struggled from the line and he's a really good free-throw shooter. Jasiah is a gamer but he's a practice player too.
The intensity level, you don't know it when you're a freshman until you play in games like this, and there was times he got caught. But he took it, and he understood it. He's going to be a hell of a player; mark my words.

Jeremy Fears, Jr.
Cam Ward
Press Conference

Q. I guess for both you guys, what does a win like this mean early in the season, and can you talk about the defensive effort tonight?
JEREMY FEARS JR: A win like this early in the season is huge, especially the fact that everybody knows we didn't play our best in the two exhibitions which kind of means nothing, but at the same time means a lot to us.
Just to show growth, improvement, and that that was a steppingstone, and we're still getting better.
CAM WARD: This means a lot, especially like Jeremy said we didn't play well in the first exhibition games and the first two games of the season were kind of rocky, but I think this is a great example of how we could be for the rest of the season, so I'm glad we made it happen tonight.

Q. Jeremy, I wanted to ask you about the early start. How much was Coach preaching for you guys to come out and kind of be the aggressor tonight, and what was going right in those first maybe eight minutes for you guys?
JEREMY FEARS JR: A lot. He's been big on me lately especially about pushing the ball, pushing the tempo. The past couple games I don't think I've been doing that for the best of my ability. That was big on my mind, just trying to get out, get out, get out every possession.
Guys are running, guys are making shots, and we got off to a good lead. That I'm pretty sure helped us throughout the whole game. I don't think we trailed at all the whole game. But that early start kind of helped us.

Q. For both of you, the defensive effort from everyone seemed strong in this one, but particularly Jordan Scott. What can you say about his performance and how impressive was that?
CAM WARD: You see it every game. Jordan is the X factor on defense. He does it all. He had six blocks tonight. Just he's everywhere all the time. It's just like a luxury to have him on our team, especially when he can be that guy for us.
JEREMY FEARS JR: I mean, I'd say we seen it last year, we seen it versus some big time opponents and players. Just carried on this year. He got stronger, he got better, and he made that freshman to sophomore jump.

Q. Cam, is this coming out party No. 2 for you in November, and what did it mean that you had a nine-point lead and you knew that Jeremy had three points at the half and was going to...
CAM WARD: It meant a lot, you know what I'm sayin', especially just because I haven't been playing well. So just to finally find some type of rhythm feels good.
And then of course like you said we were up at half and Jeremy hadn't seen one go in yet. So for him to have a big second half like he did was definitely huge for us.

Q. Cam, coming off that injury that you suffered early on, you missed that first exhibition game against Incarnate Word. What was going right for you in the first half?
CAM WARD: I think I was in the right spot at the right time, you know what I'm sayin'?
Jeremy was finding me on a lot of trails and lobs, so I'm just appreciative to having him as my point guard, and just got to pick my spots the right way and I think good things happen.

Q. Want to ask you about Cam's performance first, but also Jasiah, for him to come out on this stage early as a freshman and start off the way you guys did, what stood out to you about him?
JEREMY FEARS JR: Firstly Cam we know he kind of been struggling and we wanted to help him. He's been grinding, keep grinding, grinding, so at the same time him playing big, especially in the first half, was huge for us. He had some big time finishes, and overall he was huge for us.
But we see it every day. He's a shot maker, tough shot taker, and I'm glad he's on our squad. I recruited him hard even when he came last year. Happy to have him and he's been showing it day in and day out.

Q. Jeremy, both your freshmen classmates, Carlos and Jasiah as well both had a couple big threes in this game. For them this is their first real big game of their college careers. What's it say about them to step up in this one?
JEREMY FEARS JR: Huge. I've been harping on this freshman class since they got here. The goal for us is to keep helping them, keep improving them, and I think they can take us over the limit. Jasiah is a big time shot maker, CJ shot maker, and even credit to ET. He had a big and-1 at the end of the half and gave is a little bit of a boost of momentum with some big time defense and a couple blocks.
So at the same time, this freshman class is special, but our goal is to help helping them get improved and keep getting up to speed.

Q. Jeremy, you went 0 for 10 against Duke last year from the field. Only three points at halftime today. How did you keep the confidence to go out in the second half and have a big offensive performance?
JEREMY FEARS JR: The fact that my coaches, my teammates, they trusted me and put me in positions to be successful. At the same time, I put the work in, I put the time in, and just keep trusting whatever I'm doing that it's going to work. And at the end of the day if it, don't credit to Cam, Jasiah, CJ, Coen. Like those guys are in the right spots and they were going to help us get this win even if I didn't have a performance or score as much.

Coach Jon Scheyer

Press Conference

JON SCHEYER: Look, congrats to Michigan State. They 100 percent deserved to win. I thought they out-competed us. They played more together. Fears controlled the whole game.
I thought the difference, their role players were incredible. Ward, what he did in the first half changed the game. Those guys -- Carr, just they were really solid.
For me, it was a little bit of an out-of-body experience. Our team, I thought we weren't completely connected. Just the bottom line, we weren't connected. We're going to fix it. I can promise you that much. Our fans deserve better. That was not a good performance tonight.

You've got to give a lot of credit to Michigan State, though. They were ready to play. Fears controlled the whole game. Again, for us, it's no excuses on our end. We'll get back to work. We'll address this very quickly. Our schedule doesn't get any easier. On one hand, that's tough; on the other hand, there's great opportunity. This is Game 3 of hopefully a long season ahead of us.

We'll address it. Credit all the world to Coach Izzo and Michigan State.

Q. At the start, how much of that was Michigan State sort of being ready and physical right from the get-go? How much of it was your guys needing to adjust to that?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, I would think it was somewhere in between. Michigan State, they did a lot of that to us. We did not the whole night just play through any resistance. They're physical. They have great experience. I thought that showed tonight.

We weren't able to get to the next action. We just -- the amount of times we just went one-on-one against a set defense, put our head down, got our shot blocked, turned the ball over, I thought that's how they got separation; 13 points in the first half.

So they have a great defense is what they do, but I'm still disappointed in our ability to fight for the rim and fight for better shots.

Q. You mentioned not an easy schedule coming up. What's your message to the team in the locker room?
JON SCHEYER: Well, anytime you lose it's finger pointing time, and you can either decide to make excuses, you can point the finger at somebody else, or you can take collective responsibility.
That's what I'm going to do. I'm responsible for how we played tonight. I'm going to watch the film, going to live in it and move past it quickly because we can't just be in this moment.

But we have plenty of things we can address and plenty of things we can get better in. Most importantly, we've got to play together. That wasn't Duke basketball. We did not play together.
I think it showed. We were very low efficiency. I think then what happens is when you play that way, you probably get a little bit tight, and we missed 11 free throws, multiple front ends in the one and one.

So we'll make sure we're more connected playing the right way.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about Blackwell? He kind of seemed to ignite the team, especially later on in the second half when you guys were closing in on the Spartans, just his role bringing a little bit of energy into the group?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, look, John is not afraid of being a shot maker. I'll be honest with you, I don't think on the perimeter we had anybody play that well. It was that kind of night. He made some shots and gave us a chance against a two-possession game there at the end, but he's got to be better, our guards have to be better. Collectively, everybody. Everybody.
I thought what Sebastian gave us and what Drew gave us, they were just -- they starred in their roles. They defended. They rebounded. They made extra passes. We need more of that.

Q. What do you need to do to get more out of JBB right now? I felt like he was kind of invisible for long stretches today?
JON SCHEYER: I think that's just part of the process. This is a high level process. JoJo is wired for these moments, but we've just got to continue to figure out how to get him -- we got to get him the ball too. Offensively we've got to look for him. We've got to put him in better positions.

And then it's just the things you have to learn as a 17 year old, just how to impact the game without the ball, defense, rebounding. I was proud of him, man, because he came back in and he showed some great competitiveness, got the rebound.

But we've got to be better in getting him shots and we've got to be better just -- and JoJo is going to continue to learn and grow from this. We're going to go through some of these moments this year.

That's what we want to do with him.

Q. What does Fears do that allows him to manipulate everything and makes it really hard for you guys to take him out of any sort of a rhythm?
JON SCHEYER: Well, at the end of the day, he played with amazing control over the game. It's hard to stop a guy if you give him 17 free throws. It's really difficult. That was a big point of emphasis for us. I've got to go back and watch how much of that was us, how much of that is him. He does a great job initiating.

But that's right there. And our pick-and-roll defense was the worst it's been since I can remember. We were switching up coverages. We gave them way too much freedom. That's something we've got to address. But that was very disappointing.

Q. It seemed like every time it looked like you might make a run they got an and-1 or a three from a different guy. As much attention as Fears gets, was this kind of a strength-in-numbers win for Michigan State?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, no question. Fears, at the end of the day, I think you've got to tip your cap to him. He controlled the whole game. He did. So I think they have scoring from different places, but he sets so much of that up. He draws so much attention.

Really, we did the worst of both. You either want to try to make him score and take away others, or you want to try to make him play make and take away his scoring. We did neither. We fouled him 12 times in the game.

I thought there were other guys, Scott, Carr, Ward, Jervis; they just played within themselves, and I thought Medlock, when he came in gave them a big lift.
You've got to credit those guys for sure.

Q. You just mentioned Jordan Scott. How much did you feel like he affected the game, especially on the defensive end when you guys were trying to score?
JON SCHEYER: Look, coming in I thought Scott was their second-best player. He didn't even have that good of a scoring night. Nine rebounds, six blocked shots. He just impacts winning. He just really impacts winning. You've got to give him a lot of credit.

His size on the perimeter, that's usually what we have. His size I think bothered us. Six blocks, I think that tells a story. But yeah, big fan of him, and he did a great job.

Q. The lack of connectivity on the offense, particularly early, you guys have not shown that in the exhibitions and early in the games here. How surprising was that that that happened?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, I was surprised because that's not what we preach. That's not how we've practiced. With that said, I thought we played like that in the Army game. I thought there were some signs of it there that we addressed. Came back against Coastal Carolina and I thought we had some beautiful plays.

The thing is as you raise the level, Michigan State has one of the best defenses. Some things that might have worked last week aren't going to work this week. So the ability to work to get open, the ability to make decisions in traffic, the ability on two-on-ones -- we had two-on-ones for dunks that we went in to score. Those plays we're going to address.

At the end of the day, for our group, we have guys that just are used to making their impact through scoring, so there is going to be an evolution and adjustment for that. That's why Sebastian and Drew, they were the only two guys tonight where we won the minutes. Everybody else, we lost those minutes.

Pat didn't have his best stuff by any means. Pat has been out and sick and we've got to get him back.

But all in all, it comes down to our lack of fighting through resistance, playing together, and Michigan State outplaying us, bottom line.