Jeremy Fears scored 10 of his career-high 29 points in overtime to lead No. 7 Michigan State to an 88-79 Big Ten win over Rutgers on Tuesday night in Piscataway, N.J.
Carson Cooper produced 12 points and 14 rebounds and Coen Carr had 13 points and eight rebounds for Michigan State (19-2, 9-1), which won its seventh in a row.
Tariq Francis came off the bench to score 23 points and Jamichael Davis added 15 points for Rutgers (9-12, 2-8), which dropped its fourth straight.
Michigan State trailed 73-70 in the waning moments of regulation, but Divine Ugochukwu’s 3-pointer from the corner with 11.1 seconds left tied the game. Francis’ floater rolled off the rim as time expired to require overtime.
In the five-minute session, Michigan State took a 78-73 lead with 2:32 to go on a 3-point play by Jaxon Kohler (12 points). Fears pushed the lead to 82-75 with 57.5 seconds left after a pair of Fears free throws.
Fears hit two more free throws with 30.3 seconds to go to clinch the game. Fears went 8 of 8 at the line during overtime and 16-for-17 for the game.
Rutgers, which never trailed for the final 33:33 of regulation, owned a 58-46 margin after Davis’ jumper with 9:39 left in the second half.
Trailing 67-60 with 2:48 remaining in regulation, Michigan State went on a 7-0 run to tie the game with 1:16 to go on Fears’ driving layup and accompanying free throw.
Francis answered with two free throws. Then, after a stop, the Scarlet Knights nudged the lead to 70-67 lead with 45.2 seconds remaining when Davis split a pair of free throws.
With 24.8 seconds left, Fears hit a putback to bring Michigan State within 70-69.
The Spartans fouled Davis, who hit two free throws with 24.3 seconds to go. After Fears and Davis each split a pair of free throws to set up Ugochukwu’s 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime.
Michigan State dominated the boards by a 45-22 margin, but Rutgers turned 15 Michigan State turnovers into 19 points while the Scarlet Knights turned it over just five times.
