BY DYLAN O’LOUGHLIN
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Michigan State is prestigious when it comes to men’s basketball. The Spartans hold the longest active streak for consecutive March Madness appearances with 28 and they don’t just lose in the first round. Michigan State is back in the Round of 32 for the 12th time in 14 tournaments and 16th in the last 19 with a 16-5 record in the second round since 1998.
“They say as you get older, you go old school and I’m still going to continue to say, I want right school,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “I want to continue to do what’s right. What’s right. As we always do in our country, we’re always one side or the other side and there’s never a happy medium. Now we’ve taken something that got botched up and we’ve taken it to a new level the other way, where I don’t think it’s right, either. I’ve been pretty vocal about that. I’m adjusting. I’m adapting the best I can. But I’m not going to change the principles. I’m not going to be afraid to coach a guy because he can transfer this week. I’m not going to be afraid of that. I’m going to do what I think is best, whether anybody believes this or not, for my guys. When you end up coaching and you have guys for three and four years, they do become like your own kids.”
The kids that Izzo can go on and on about include seniors Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, junior Coen Carr and red shirt sophomore Jeremy Fears Jr. The squad of four has been coached by Izzo for the past three years and have been to the tournament in every season.
“I think it’s huge overall,” Fears Jr explained about the importance of experience. “You know, us four know how to play with each other, but the more we play with our younger guys or transfers, just being able to fit in and how you really have a set in stone understanding of everyone’s game. Just obviously keep building and growing. But us four, it’s great to have experience and being able to have been through this a couple times.”
In Michigan State’s first round matchup against No. 14 North Dakota State, the group of four combined for 56 points in the Spartans 92-67 victory. Leading the charge was Cooper with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds while Carr netted 17. Fears Jr didn’t break double-figures, finishing with seven points, but the red shirt sophomore dished out 11 assists including six on the first eight scoring possessions.
“I think it’s gotten better, us playing together for three years, it’s gotten better every year, and now the fact that we’re kind of on our last leg and kind of at the end of our college career, we’re hitting our best strides together,” Cooper said about playing with this group. “I think when you start off the summer playing really well together, it’s just going to build from there. I think we had a good summer, and that’s what sparked it.”
Fears Jr has played a pivotal role in making the Spartans offense that averages 79.3 points per game (PPG) go. This season, the sophomore averages 15.4 PPG on 44 percent shooting while dishing out 9.2 assists per game (APG) which ranks first in the nation. Fears Jr has 305 assists on the season, placing him second in the nation as the sophomore also has the number one assist rate in the country at 52.6 percent. On the year, Fears Jr has scored or assisted on 58.2 percent of the Spartans points when he is on the floor, scoring 1,244 of Michigan State’s 2,136 points.
“Really just adjusting, seeing how they were guarding our pick-and-roll, how they were guarding me. My guys got open, so just making sure I was able to get them the ball in the right spots. They did the hard part of scoring and finishing,” Fears Jr complemented about his teammates making his job easier. “Overall I trust them, so I know they’re going to make the right play, whether I pass to them and they pass to somebody else and we get a lay-up or a bucket, or they score. So at the end of the day, just making sure I’m getting them the ball. I think this is what happened when you play with players for multiple years and stick with the same group and guys. You build that chemistry, that bond.”
The group of four have also become leaders. Cooper averages 11.0 PPG and 7.2 RPG on 58 percent shooting and has improved each season in his four years as a Spartan.
“The greatest growth, I think, has come each year, as they alluded to, when you stay in a program and you get better each year. I think he went from liking the game to loving the game, and now he’s spending more and more and more time,” Izzo commented about Cooper’s progression. “And you usually get what you deserve, you get what you earn, you get what you work for. It’s an amazing concept. Coop has gotten better. He’s gotten better — at one time he couldn’t make a free throw, then it was jump hooks. Now he’s got a variety of shots, the baseline one, the lobs. Him and Jeremy, remember when he used to not be able to catch the ball? He’s a really good athlete for a kid that size. It’s been fun to watch him grow, and now when he’s getting his best, he’s only 21 years old. I still think his best basketball is ahead of him.”
Cooper has also grown as a leader. Along with improved play, Cooper is instilling that Michigan State standard into the freshman and younger guys just like the Spartans did when he was a freshman.
“Yeah, I think it’s been productive,” Cooper stated. “I just think for our big position with me and Jaxon (Kohler) in charge of Jesse (McCullough), the twins (Brenna & Colin Walton) and Cam (Ward) and how they’ve been able to progress, I think it’s kind of a testament to the strides they’ve made in the year, and just staying on them and holding them to higher standard. Because when I was a freshman, I wish I was held to a higher standard. I think we’ve done a great job with those guys, making them feel at home, making them feel like we’re not picking on them, that we actually care about their development, care about getting better. And it’s good that they’re starting to continue to play better.”
It’s a rarity to see student athletes stay at one school for their whole career in the era of NIL, but for Michigan State, they’re an outlier. With the standard being instilled each year by players who have played under Izzo for multiple seasons, it makes the job for Izzo easier.
“Do I feel more comfortable knowing I have those four guys? 100 percent. I can go to them,” Izzo explained about this group of guys. “I’ve had meetings in the last two weeks — I’ve had a lot of meetings just me and those four guys and just talking about how we’ve got to deal with this, how we’ve got to deal with that, how we’ve got to keep the distractions away, focus in. I also talk to them about what it’s like to be a senior. That’s a scary moment if you’re not sure what you’re going to do. If you’re a senior in high school, 90 percent of the people already know where they’re going. When you’re a senior in college, you have no clue. Hopefully you’re an NBA player, you want to play in Europe, but it’s not as easy. You don’t know before you’re done. So I talk to them about a lot of those things, and I think they passed it on. When I had a little meeting the other day, I heard them say, we don’t have another time to come back. They kind of say some of the things I say. That’s flattering. That’s exciting. But that’s being in the same place and being around the same people, and it’s pretty cool. I’m the one that’s lucky on that.”
Just like Izzo said, these guys don’t have another time to come back. But, for Cooper, Kohler, Fears Jr and Carr, they appreciate every aspect of each moment.
“It’s tough not to think about the basketball aspect of things,” Cooper said. “But I kind of go back to just how we are right now, even in like our meals in the hotel rooms and just hanging out with the guys. I think that’s something that we’re all going to take for granted at some point. When we graduate, wherever the next step takes us, we’re going to think back and wish that we were back there, being able to hang out with the guys and just kind of BS with one another and just enjoy that fellowship.”
“We’ve got a special group of guys,” Kohler continued. “The chemistry we have and everything we’ve been through has just built to the relationship that we have with one another. No matter where life takes us after this, it’s never going to be the same. It’s a special group of guys. So those little things, whether it’s team meals or being on the bus or getting ready for a game, they’re special moments. Obviously when you’re getting ready for a game, it’s easy to overlook those things. But sometimes taking a moment to appreciate those moments is something that I feel like is really needed because they’re not going to be there at a certain point.”
The Spartans look to carry those moments over into their second round matchup against the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals. After earning a 92-67 victory over NDSU, Michigan State now takes on a Power-5 Atlantic Coast Conference squad that won a physical battle 83-79 over South Florida in the first round.
“I would say just understanding our goal and what we’re trying to do at the end of the day,” Fears Jr explained about the Louisville matchup. “There’s teams that’s really aggressive that don’t press at all, teams that play zone, teams that play man. We have kind of seen it all, and it really starts with us four being able to control and help the guys and get off to a good start. But overall just being able to do what we do, run our plays, run our sets, execute, and play how we did last game. Everybody got shots, everybody got the ball, and I think that’s the thing that makes us dangerous.”
Two of the key factors for Louisville that Michigan State has to stop include senior guards Isaac McKneely and Ryan Conwell. In the first round matchup against USF, the duo combined for 41 points as McKneely finished with a team-high 23 points while Conwell followed with 18.
“Tackle them,” Izzo jokingly stated when asked how to stop the duo. “We’ve got to do something, they’ve had their way against a lot of people and that’s why they average what they average. McKneely can shoot it from everywhere and Conwell started out with my former assistant Brian Gregory at South Florida, but we played him when he was at Indiana State at our place a couple years ago. He was very good then. They can beat you in a lot of different ways. McKneely mostly from long, long range. But Conwell can get you in three different facets. He can get to the rack, he can get you in the mid-range, and he can get you with a three. They’re maybe as impressive of two guards as you need to have to be successful. They say guards win championships or advances you in the NCAA Tournament. So there’s no question we’re not going to stop them, but we have to contain them somewhat.”
In the last matchup between the two squads, Michigan State pulled out a 76-70 overtime victory in the 2015 Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four. In the five March Madness appearances all time, the teams are split 2-2 overall dating all the way back to 1959.
“Yeah, we had a couple with them. ’09, ’19. We’ve played them in Elite Eight games. One of my first games was against Louisville when Denny Crum was there. They were celebrating the 75th anniversary of their championship and I think might have beat us by 100. It might have been a little less,” Izzo complemented about Louisville. “I always like when newcomers come up. But it is good to see the teams that have been successful over a period of time remain successful. I think some of that is good in sports in general. Louisville has bounced back. Had a couple of rough years. I think Pat (Kelsey) has done a really good job with the program and it’s got everything you want, where it’s at, facilities, all that, and I see that program not dipping much in the years to come.”
No. 3 Michigan State goes head-to-head with No. 6 Louisville Saturday, March 20 at the KeyBank Center in the Round of 32. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.
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