EAST LANSING, Mich. — Fifth-ranked Michigan State rained in 18 shots from beyond the arc on Friday, Nov. 13, the most in program history, and pulled away from Northern Iowa for a 106-72 victory at the Breslin Center.
The Spartans are now 4-0. Northern Iowa dropped to 2-2 in its first meeting with Michigan State since the two met in the 2010 NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
Redshirt junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr. led all scorers with 24 points and also topped the game with nine assists. Freshman guard Jasiah Jervis posted his first career 20-point night, and sophomore forward Jordan Scott chipped in 11 points with five rebounds.
Michigan State never trailed. Scott hit a three just 26 seconds in, and the Spartans were up 16-2 before five minutes had elapsed, prompting a Northern Iowa timeout. The visitors found a rhythm late in the half, though, outscoring MSU 26-17 down the stretch to go into the break behind 59-44.
Northern Iowa cut the gap to 11 twice early in the second half. The Spartans answered, and a 21-0 burst over 5:33 midway through the half stretched the margin to 99-63. Freshman forward Julius Avent supplied the record-setting 18th three in the closing minutes, topping the old mark of 17 that MSU had reached against Purdue in 2014 and Rutgers in 2016.
Michigan State made 18 of 37 attempts from deep, assisted on 24 of its 28 field goals and turned 16 Northern Iowa turnovers into 31 points. Northern Iowa had never allowed that many threes in a game; its previous worst was 17 at Southern Illinois in 2023. Greyson Uelmen paced the Panthers with 16 points.
The victory pushed Tom Izzo to 768-310 in his 32nd season leading the Spartans. Northern Iowa stays in Michigan for a Saturday game at Oakland.
From the HERE City State Desk.
Section: More Lansing MI sports news
Filed under: Lansing MI Sports News
