Michigan State’s Denham Wojcik, left, attempts a pass while being defended by Rutgers’ Jamichael Davis during the first half at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Thursday, March 5, 2026. Jeremy Fears Jr. had 21 points and eight assists, Coen Carr also had 21 points and No. 8 Michigan State dispatched Rutgers 91-87 on Thursday night in East Lansing, Mich., earning a triple-bye in next week’s Big Ten tournament.
Fears ranks third on the Spartans’ single-season assists list with 272. Fears surpassed the legendary Magic Johnson (269 in 1978-79) and was two spots behind second-place Mateen Cleaves (274 in 1998-99).
Jackson Koller added 15 points and seven rebounds and Carson Cooper had 14 points as Michigan State (25-5, 15-4 Big Ten) won its fifth straight game.
Tariq Francis had 25 points with five assists and three steals for Rutgers (12-18, 5-14), which fell to 0-9 against the Spartans.
Lino Mark scored 14 points and Emmanuel Ogbole added 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting before fouling out for the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers trailed by 15 with 1:19 left before using a 14-3 burst to get within four. A basket by Francis with 27.6 seconds left and a steal and layup by Kaden Powers with 20.3 seconds left brought the Scarlet Knights within 86-82.
Rutgers trailed 89-87 after Darren Buchanan Jr. hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left. Fears was fouled with two seconds left and made both free throws to make it a four-point lead and the Spartans held on.
Michigan State shot 58.5% from the field, including 4 of 12 3-pointers, and maintained a 38-21 rebounding advantage.
The Scarlet Knights made 47.7 percent of their shots and hit 10 of 18 from behind the arc.
The Spartans scored seven points in the first half of the second half to take a 38-30 lead.
Fears assisted on three straight dunks after Francis drained a trey to cut the lead to 40-35 with 16:47 remaining. Carr threw the first two with a second assist from Fears past Johnson, and Jordan Scott finished the final one to give Michigan State a 46-35 lead with 15:34 remaining.
Michigan State later increased its lead to 74-55 on Carr’s triple with 6:17 left.
Ogbole scored three straight baskets to pull Rutgers within 75-63 with 3:37 left, but Kohler and Fears responded with baskets to make it a 16-point lead with 2:54 left.
Michigan State led 31-30 at the break.
Francis scored 10 first-half points for the Scarlet Knights, who led for more than 13 minutes in the first half.
–Field level media
