ATLANTA — There is something to be said about Jeremy Fears Jr. and his drive to succeed. And the reason Tom Izzo has equated his young point guard to Michigan State basketball national champion Mateen Cleaves.
Take the final five-plus minutes Friday night and a sample of the winning plays Fears made to help send Izzo back to the Elite Eight for the 11th time and first since 2019.
∎A baseline drive and getting fouled, showing renewed poise at the free throw line to hit a pair.
∎ His instinctual defensive decision to leap at midcourt to steal a potentially damaging outlet pass after Mississippi had taken back the lead with a 3-pointer, redirecting the ball to Coen Carr for a momentum-jolting breakaway dunk.
∎ Then after another Rebels 3-pointer, Fears attacked off the dribble and hit a floater in the paint that once again stabilized the Spartans. They never trailed again en route to a 73-70 Sweet 16 victory over Ole Miss.
After which, Izzo’s praise for his young leader — despite only scoring four points with six assists — once again was lofty.
“Jeremy made some big plays. Jeremy made a lot of plays in the huddles,” Izzo said Friday night. “He really did a hell of a job. … Jeremy was in the huddle talking about, ‘Let's get Tre (Holloman) this shot, let's get him coming off this.’ I mean, it was kind of the player-coached team that I love so much.
“And give Jeremy Fears credit for that.”
Cleaves led Izzo to his first Final Four appearances in 1999 and a national championship in 2000. Now 25 years later, and a little more than 15 months after being shot in the upper left thigh, Fears has the Spartans one win away from going to San Antonio and ...
