EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsCHICAGO -- Jeremy Fears Jr. entered the season as the Player of the Year frontrunner, a returning second-team All-American and the nation's assists leader. But after an uneven preseason and an inconsistent first two regular-season games, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo challenged his point guard heading into the Champions Classic."You're given a rank, you have a responsibility to live up to that ranking," Izzo said.The senior guard responded by leading the No. 5 Spartans to a statement win over No. 2 Duke, 79-73, on Tuesday night in a game the Blue Devils never led and trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half.Fears finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists -- becoming just the second Division I player over the last five seasons to post at least 15 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists against a top-five team, according to ESPN Research."He plays with amazing control over the game, and it's hard to stop a guy if you give him 17 free throws," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. "It's really difficult. That was a big point of emphasis for us. I got to go back and watch how much of that was us, how much of that is him. He does a great job initiating. And then our pick-and-roll defense was the worst it's been since I can remember. We were switching up coverages. We gave him way too much freedom."Fears, who now has 31 assists in three games this season, struggled in last season's game against Duke, going 0-for-10 from the field despite dishing out 13 assists. It was clear from the outset Tuesday night that last season was not going to dissuade him from being aggressive against the Blue Devils. He drew a foul driving to the basket on Michigan State's second possession, then racked up three assists before the first media timeout.By that point, Michigan State was up 11-2 and Duke never got closer than three the rest of the way. Fears had only three points at the break but came out in the second half to post 15 points in the final 20 minutes."[Izzo] has been big on me lately, especially about pushing the ball, pushing the tempo, and the past couple games I don't think I've been doing that to the best of my ability," Fears said. "So that was big on my mind, just try to get out, get out every possession."While Fears was manipulating the game on the offensive end, Jordan Scott was the Spartans' catalyst defensively. Scott, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, finished with 9 rebounds, 6 blocks and 2 steals, providing a game-changing impact despite his jumper not falling. He spearheaded a tremendous Michigan State defensive effort as Duke in the first half was held to just 25 points on 26% shooting - its lowest first-half shooting percentage under Scheyer, per ESPN Research."Jordan is the X factor on defense," said Michigan State big man Cam Ward, who had 14 points and six rebounds. "He does it all. He had six blocks tonight. He's everywhere all the time, and it's just a luxury to have him on our team, especially when he can be that guy for us."Added Scheyer: "Coming in, I thought Scott was their second-best player. He just impacts winning. He just really impacts winning. You got to give him a lot of credit."Tuesday's win will put the Spartans in the upper echelon of Final Four contenders in this early stage of the season. It also will also ease some of the pain Duke has caused them in recent years. The Blue Devils are 11-3 against Michigan State since 2010, including a Champions Classic win in Chicago in 2023 and an NCAA tournament win in 2022.In fact, Tuesday's victory was Michigan State's first over Duke in five Champions Classic meetings."As far as beating Duke, I'm apologizing to our fans, to my wife and my kids because they've beaten us like a drum now the last four or five times," Izzo said.There's an argument to be made that Tuesday was Duke's worst performance since the 2024-25 season. The Blue Devils had a lead or were within one possession of the lead in the final minute in each of their last 79 games, including all 77 games over the last two seasons. That run ended Tuesday night, with Duke never getting closer than five in the second half.Michigan State's physicality and toughness on the defensive end really bothered Duke, which turned over the ball nine times in the first half. They shot just 7-for-29 from 3-point range, missing their first eight shots from behind the arc and then seven of their final eight.Scheyer didn't mince words after the game."For me, it was a little bit [of an] out-of-body experience," he said. "We weren't connected. We weren't connected and we're going to fix it. I can promise you that much. Our fans deserve better. That was not a good performance tonight."I'm responsible for how we played tonight. That wasn't Duke basketball."It doesn't get much easier for the Blue Devils, who have three more games against top-five teams over the next three weeks: Nov. 17 vs. Illinois, Nov. 25 vs. UConn in Las Vegas and Dec. 1 at Florida."On one hand, that's tough," Scheyer said. "On the other hand, there's great opportunity. So we'll address it."
