Michigan State and Arkansas played an instant classic on Saturday night at the Breslin Center, with the No. 22 Spartans edging the No. 14 Razorbacks 69-66. Cam Ward and Coen Carr led the way for Tom Izzo’s team, combining for 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting. Carr and Ward made up for the lackluster game of Jeremy Fears Jr., who was limited to four points and missed all seven of his field-goal attempts.
Izzo addressed the starting guard’s difficulties, holding himself accountable for his player’s in-game struggles. However, he remained optimistic that Fears would finally break out of his shooting slump in the Spartans’ upcoming games.
Tom Izzo Takes The Blame for Jeremy Fears’ Shooting Struggles Against Arkansas
The former national champion coach answered a reporter’s question during the team’s postgame media availability session on Saturday and admitted he contributed to Fears’ offensive issues this season.
Izzo deployed the Chicago native as the point guard for the majority of the Arkansas game. Fatigue apparently affected Fears’ overall performance, and he was forced to commit a couple of turnovers down the stretch.
“I just ran him to death because we weren’t getting enough out of the other point guards,” Izzo said. “I just kept playing him and got tired a little bit. So that’ll go to me.”
The Spartans’ bench tactician said he needed to do a better job of managing Fears’ playing time in the coming games. He compared Fears to his predecessors and Michigan State legends Mateen Cleaves and Draymond Green.
“Jeremy’s always going to have his moments, like Mateen did and like Draymond did. There’s always going to be a back and forth, as he is competitive,” Izzo said. “For the most part, I enjoy a little bit of that myself, but he’s getting better.”
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Fears played a more facilitative role for the Spartans on Saturday. He shot 4-of-6 from the free-throw line for his only points of the game and finished with three rebounds, nine assists, and one steal in 35 minutes.
This season, Fears is 4-of-17 from the field but has made amends from the free-throw line, making 10 of his 12 attempts. He is averaging 9.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 9.5 assists, and 3.0 steals in 34.5 minutes per game for the Spartans.
Tom Izzo expects the shooting guard to get his game going and improve his shooting stats in the coming games. The Spartans return to action against San Jose State on Nov. 13 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.