Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 10 of his career-high 29 points in overtime, leading No. 7 Michigan State to an 88-79 win over Rutgers on Tuesday night in Piscataway, N.J.
Carson Cooper produced 12 points and 14 rebounds and Coen Carr had 13 points and eight rebounds for Michigan State (19-2, 9-1 Big Ten), which won its seventh game in a row.
Tariq Francis and Harun Zrno came off the bench to score 23 points and 16 points, respectively, for Rutgers (9-12, 2-8), which dropped its fourth straight. Jamichael Davis added 15 points.
Michigan State trailed 73-70 in the waning moments of regulation, but Divine Ugochukwu’s 3-pointer from the corner with 11.1 seconds left tied the game. Francis’ floater rolled off the rim as time expired to require overtime.
In the five-minute session, Michigan State took a 78-73 lead with 2:32 to go on a 3-point play by Jaxon Kohler (12 points). Fears pushed the lead to 82-75 with 57.5 seconds left after a pair of Fears free throws.
Fears hit two more free throws with 30.3 seconds to go to clinch the game. Fears went 8 of 8 at the line during overtime and 16-for-17 for the game.
Rutgers, which never trailed for the final 33:33 of regulation, owned a 58-46 margin after Davis’ jumper with 9:39 left in the second half.
Trailing 67-60 with 2:48 remaining in regulation, Michigan State went on a 7-0 run to tie the game with 1:16 to go on Fears’ driving layup and accompanying free throw.
Francis answered with two free throws. Then, after a stop, the Scarlet Knights nudged the lead to 70-67 lead with 45.2 seconds remaining when Davis split a pair of free throws.
With 24.8 seconds left, Fears hit a putback to bring Michigan State within 70-69.
The Spartans fouled Davis, who hit two free throws with 24.3 seconds to go. After Fears and Davis each split a pair of free throws to set up Ugochukwu’s 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime.
Michigan State dominated the boards by a 45-22 margin, but Rutgers turned 15 Michigan State turnovers into 19 points while the Scarlet Knights turned it over just five times.
–Field Level Media
