EAST LANSING >> Games like Thursday night are the kind that Jeremy Fears Jr. loves.
Not just because his Michigan State men’s basketball team routed Washington in a 88-54 blowout. And not even because he had his first career double-double.
It’s because Thursday’s performance was the exact way the Spartans want to play. Fast-paced, unrelenting.
Overwhelming the opponent with both talent and tempo. And as No. 16 Michigan State (13-2, 4-0 Big Ten) travels to Evanston for a Sunday afternoon game at Northwestern, don’t expect Fears or the Spartans to slow down.
“I think everyone here prefers to play fast and run,” Fears said Thursday, recapping what his coach Tom Izzo called his best game both offensively and defensively.
All season, Michigan State has excelled at playing quick basketball, getting down the court in a hurry as soon as it gets the ball. MSU leads all Division I teams with 20 fast-break points per game, with nearly a quarter of its 81.5 points per game coming in transition. Not only are the Spartans speeding-ticket quick, but they utilize that quickness to cash in on the scoreboard.
And the crazy part is, everybody knows it. Not one coach has come into a game against Michigan State expecting anything but a transition slugfest. Yet time after time, the Spartans have come away on the winning end. Even Washington knew the drill.
“We wanted to get four guys back because I know how elite they are in transition,” Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said in the aftermath.
“And I think Fears is tremendous, slicing the ball, but there’s no wasted movement. Like if somebody’s open ahead, he pitches the ball ahead, and their wings know, when they sprint up, they’re going to catch it if they run hard enough.”
Running hard like the Coen Carr dunk nine minutes into the first half that electrified an already rambunctious crowd, as well as his teammates. With how loud the environment got, Washington could hardly settle itself in a media timeout soon after, let alone scheme up something to stop the transition bleeding.
By the end of the half, a 17-2 difference in fast-break points put the game in Michigan State’s control. By the end of the game, try 28-2.
The only team that really stopped Michigan State from running this season was Memphis, whose 71-63 win in the Maui Invitational is the only time in the past dozen games that Michigan State has lost. Northwestern (10-5, 1-3) will expect that transition attack too, but the question is whether it can stop it. Chris Collins’ team is led by two multiyear starters in multitool guard Brooks Barnhizer and stat-stuffing forward Nick Martinelli. The Wildcats are a tough and savvy opponent to stop. They’ve also yet to lose a game at home.
What might be more indicative of Michigan State’s success on Sunday and beyond will be if it can keep improving the fine details at such high speeds. Turnovers are still an issue, though an improving one. The quick pace of play amplifies the opportunities to make mistakes, and tamping those down is an area Izzo’s been focused on.
Likewise, Spartans of all ages and experience are still trying to force ill-advised plays, though a listless Washington didn’t do much to take advantage.
Even so, Thursday’s game shows the steps Michigan State and Fears have taken.
After the game, Izzo said he coached his sophomore point guard on giving up the ball earlier on the break to make better use of pace. And that ball movement has worked.
As Fears sliced and diced defenders in front of him, then hit the open men for a shot, the plan worked to devastating effect. The rest of the guards followed suit.
“Obviously when we push, the wings and the guards on the wing run,” Fears said after the game. “So just making sure we’re able to get those guys open shots and still get open layups. … That was really big on something coach (Izzo) was stressing.”
And Izzo is going to keep stressing it — against Northwestern this Sunday and probably every opponent thereafter. Not only is Michigan State playing with speed, but it’s also moving the ball as well as it has all season. The only thing faster than a player running a lane is to pass to someone farther ahead, and this has only further exploited the transition game.
“The ball is moving better. We are executing better. We’re getting open shots,” Izzo said Friday after practice.
“The next step is to make those on a consistent basis.”
That shooting growth is the continuation of the Spartans’ offensive development, one area that can take it up another notch. And as Fears and his teammates continue to play to their fast-paced preference, the enjoyment can only grow if the shots start falling.