Comeback Falls Short as Michigan State Loses to UCLA, 88-84, in Big Ten Quarterfinals

Friday, March 13

Chicago, Ill.

9 PM

Michigan State University

25-7,15-5Big Ten

UCLA

23-10,13-7Big Ten

UCLA

Michigan St.

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

Comeback Falls Short as Michigan State Loses to UCLA, 88-84, in Big Ten Quarterfinals

3/14/2026 1:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Gamebook Michigan State vs UCLA BTT March 13, 2026 UCLA 88, Michigan State 84 Post-Game Quotes

CHICAGO – No. 8 Michigan State trailed by 15 points in the second half and narrowed the gap to two points in the final minute, but could not recover as sixth-seeded UCLA handed the third-seeded Spartans an 88-84 loss in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament Friday night at United Center.

Redshirt sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr. scored a team-high 21 points and handed out 13 assists to lead the Spartans. Fears' 13 assists give him 294 for the season, breaking the school record of 291 set by Cassius Winston in 2018-19.

Senior center Carson Cooper added 13 points and five rebounds, sophomore guard Kur Teng scored 13 points off the bench and junior forward Coen Carr added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Records
Michigan State 25-7 overall record while UCLA improves to 23-10.

Recap

Michigan State trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half after going into the break trailing 44-33.
Twice in the opening minutes of the second half, MSU cut the deficit to single digits, but a 7-0 burst extended the UCLA lead to 54-39 on a 3-pointer from Skyy Clark.
The Spartans, with eight points from senior guard Trey Fort, used a 22-7 run over 5:36 and pulled to within five points, 66-61, on a jumper from senior forward Jaxon Kohler at the 9:12 mark.
UCLA answered with six-straight points to make it 72-61 and led by 12, 75-63, after a 3-pointer from Trent Perry with 4:54 left to play.
The Spartans followed with a 15-5 run in the final minutes and pulled to within two points, 80-78 on a 3-pointer from Teng with 43 seconds left.
Fears hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to make it 82-80, but a layup from UCLA's Brandon Williams and four free throws from Perry in the final 12 seconds sealed the win for the Bruins.
The Spartans went into the break trailing by 11 points, 44-33, after allowing UCLA to hit more than 60.0 percent of its first half shots, including 50.0 percent from 3-point land.
MSU had jumped out to an early 9-5 lead, using a 7-0 run over a span of 59 seconds, with a 4-point play from freshman forward Jordan Scott and an alley-oop dunk from junior forward Coen Carr capping the run.
Carr hit a 3-pointer at 15:03 to give MSU a 12-8 lead and an alley-oop dunk from Fears to senior center Carson Cooper tied the game at 14-all with 12:14 to play.
UCLA responded with a 10-3 run over 2:15 and took a 24-17 lead on a dunk from Brandon Williams at 9:36.
The Bruins took a 10-point lead on a jumper from Daily at 5:36 and took their biggest lead of the half, on a 3-pointer from Dent with 2:22 to play before free throws from Cooper with 1.5 seconds left cut the lead to 11 points.
The Spartans went the last 5:17 of the first half without a field goal.

Key Stats

Michigan State shot 45.2 percent from the floor (28-of-62), but hit only 32.1 percent (9-of-26) in the first half.
UCLA connected on 55.6 percent of its shots (30-of-54), including 63.0 percent in the first half (17-of-27).
The Bruins shot 48.1 percent from 3-point land (13-of-27).
The Spartans committed 12 turnovers, seven in the first half.

Notes

Michigan State's all-time record in the Big Ten Tournament is now 36-22.
The Spartans trail the all-time series with UCA, 5-9.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is now 4-6 all-time against the Bruins.
Izzo's career record is now 762-309 in his 31st year at the helm of the MSU program.
The Spartans are 5-3 in games decided by 1 to 5 points.
MSU is 4-1 in games on neutral floors this year.
The Spartans are 2-2 in March, 1-4 in games played on Friday and 17-5 in night games.
MSU trailed at the half, 44-33, and is 7-5 when behind after the opening 20 minutes.
The Spartans were out-shot by UCLA (55.6 percent to 45.2 percent), just the eighth time this season not shooting better than their opponent (2-6).
Michigan State scored 84 points, the 16th time scoring at least 80 points but the second time losing the game (14-2).
Michigan State out-rebounded UCLA, 34-26, the 27th time out-rebounding its opponent (24-3).
Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 21 points and handed out a game-high 13 assists.
- Fears has scored in double figures in each of the last 20 games.
- He has scored in double figures 26 times this year and 38 for his career.
- He is the first MSU player to score at least 20 points in four-straight games since Cassius Winston did so during the 2019-20 season.
- This was his ninth game this season with at least 20 points.
- Fears has led the team in assists 32 times this year and 54 for his career.
- His 13 assists pushed his season total to 294 the most in a single season in MSU history … He moved past the previous school record of 291 set by Cassius Winston in 2018-19.
Carson Cooper scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds.
- He has scored in double figures 19 times this year and 23 for his career.
Coen Carr scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
- This was his 18th game in double figures this year and the 32nd of his career.
- He has led the team in rebounding four times this year, six for his career.
Kur Teng scored 13 points off the bench, his 13th game in double figures this season (and career)

Up Next
Michigan State will now await the NCAA Selection show on Sunday, March 15 as the Spartans aim for their 28th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.