CHICAGO — Jeremy Fears Jr. walked around the court at United Center egging on a crowd that had just reached a crescendo as 42 seconds ticked down to 12 in Michigan State’s Champions Classic bout with Duke. It was one of many stops in the half, and in the game, as the Spartans made a statement in their first big test of the season.

No. 6 Michigan State held No. 2 Duke to 37 percent shooting in a 79-73 win Tuesday, Nov. 10. Though Duke tried to rally with a late surge from star guard John Blackwell, MSU and Fears came up with the answers to stiff arm the attempt.

Michigan State (3-0) returns to Breslin Center Friday, Nov. 13, against Northern Iowa (FS1/7p.m.).

Michigan State took control of the game early with an 11-2 lead and staved off Duke’s (2-1) best push in the second half with a resilient offensive effort from Fears including a key and-one layup that got him love from former MSU point guard Steve Smith sitting on the sideline. 

Jordan Scott and Cam Ward led Michigan State’s defensive excellence. The sophomore duo combined for 15 rebounds (nine from Scott alone for a career-high) and consistently got hands into lanes and in faces. Scott added five blocks and a steal. Meanwhile, Ward popped for 11 points in 12 first-half minutes and 14 points total off the bench in his best performance of the young season. Fears ended the game with 18 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, with 12 of those points on free throws.

Bloomfield Hills native John Blackwell led Duke with 17 points on 5-for-14 shooting, including a pair of second-half 3s from the corner that made Michigan State uneasy despite defending so well most of the night.

Scott and freshman guard Jasiah Jervis pestered Duke’s guards, particularly Caleb Foster (2-for-10) and Blackwell. Against a Duke team that has routinely been a thorn in its side, all those stops gave Michigan State an early signature win against a blueblood.

MSU is now 7-9 in the Champions Classic, 2-4 in tournament games played against Duke. It is 5-16 against Duke all-time. Its previous win came at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 1, 2020, as part of the Champions Classic.

Down 34-25 at halftime, Duke couldn’t quite chip at the deficit as Fears got to the line for four free throws in the first five minutes of the half. But at 15:16, a collision between MSU guard Kur Teng and Duke’s Dame Sarr led to a flagrant 1 foul after review. Sarr missed the first free throw, then made the second after an interruption from the officials. 

That moment could’ve been a turning point Duke’s way, but it went MSU’s when Jesse McCulloch blocked Duke center Patrick Ngongba, then flushed a 3 at the other end. A couple possessions later, Fears swiped the ball off Blackwell and took it to the other end for an and-one layup. The MSU point guard stomped to the sideline seats and high-fived former MSU point guard Steve Smith as McCulloch waved on the crowd.

Duke got a pair of 3s from Foster and guard Sebastian Wilkins to respond to Fears’ efforts, but MSU got its own answers, too. Freshman backup point guard Carlos Medlock Jr. added a key 3 off the bench and put up a shot that fellow freshman Ethan Taylor flushed midway through the half. When Fears got back on the court, he made a nice underneath pass to Carr on the block that led to an easy dunk and a 64-51 lead with 8:08 to go, and a crowd roar that drowned out Duke coach Jon Scheyer’s calls at the other end and forced another timeout. It yielded an airball on the other side.

MSU’s 13-point lead slipped to nine with a 3 from Blackwell at 6:44, but Fears once again found an answer with a series that saw him dish a pass to Anton Bonke, only to wind up rebounding a late shot and drawing a foul on the drive. When a missed hook-and-hold and two fouls on Ward got Izzo into a state of exasperation, a 3 from Jervis and an and-one from Ward cooled him down.

Another Blackwell 3 made Michigan State uneasy, leading 73-65. Then it was 73-68, at 2:03, after a foul on Fears sent Sarr to the line for two shots he drained. Scott got rewarded for his great defense on a tough shooting day with a driving layup to reassert the lead, and an unfriendly rim led to a clanked 3 for Duke at the other end. When Blackwell missed a 3 that fell into Fears' hands off the rim, that all but sealed it. So did another Scott block with 32.4 on the clock, leaping up to block Sarr.

A flagrant foul called on Jesse McCulloch sent Ngongba to the line with 22 seconds to play. He hit those shots, and Blackwell hit a 3 to make it 78-73. But Fears shot free throws to ice it.

It took just 2:33 for Michigan State to take control and build an 11-2 lead on Duke, five of those points coming from Jervis matched up against Blackwell. The freshman had his hiccups, including a travel and a late hand when Blackwell got him back for Duke’s first bucket. However, he largely held his own in a big test.

Michigan State’s offense went cold for five minutes, 30 seconds after Jervis’ pull-up 3 that forced a Jon Scheyer timeout at 17:23, but MSU’s defense maintained the lead. Neither team scored amid a series of stops for the Spartans. In that stretch, Scott notched a steal, two back-to-back blocks and a key defensive rebound underneath his own teammate Jesse McCulloch, who also had a steal. Duke snapped the stalemate with a layup by Drew Scharnowski, but Ward matched him with free throws at the other end. Ward’s 11 points led all players by halftime, including back-to-back driving layups, one of them an and-one, in a physical display Izzo has been longing for from his bigs.

Just when MSU got its transition going with a lob connection between Fears and Ward, Duke rattled off a quick 7-0 run in 55 seconds, cutting the Spartans’ lead to 15-13. Needing its composure, Michigan State got a big boost from a transition 3 by Scott. But nothing could compare to his defense, block after block and stop after stop that forced Duke to just 7-for-27 from the floor in the first half. That kept Michigan State in the driver’s seat, and gave it that raucous sendoff into halftime.