Michigan State’s Tom Izzo addresses Jeremy Fears kick on Michigan player

Michigan State took on the No. 3-ranked Michigan Wolverines in a clash of heated Big Ten rivals on Sunday, with Tom Izzo’s Spartans looking to score a major upset victory ahead of their conference tournament.

However, they were unable to reach that goal, with the Wolverines claiming a 90-80 victory behind a 27-point performance from Yaxel Lendeborg. Morez Johnson Jr. contributed 18 points to help in the effort, which featured an early technical foul against the Spartans’ Jeremy Fears Jr. for kicking one of his opponents.

The incident occurred early in the game, as Fears was dribbling and being defended by Michigan’s Elliot Cadeau. The referees blew the whistle for a foul on Cadeau on the play. Upon further review, Fears received a contact dead-ball technical foul for swinging his leg and foot back and up into Cadeau’s groin.

A video upload on X (formerly Twitter) shows a close-up of what happened as Fears kicks his leg and foot back at Cadeau. The referees got together to discuss what happened on the play.

During a huddle, Izzo appeared to get up in Fears’ face to scold him for what happened. A “F*** you Fears” chant erupted from the Michigan fans in their area.

The camera cut to a “Fears DPOY Dirtiest Player of the Year” sign someone was holding up in the crowd after the referee announced the upgraded foul was a technical.

As one might expect, Izzo wasn’t happy with Fears earning that technical, with sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson asking about it during a pause in the game.

“It’s all because of what happened earlier and now the microscope’s on him. And I don’t like that,” Izzo told Wolfson.

However, Izzo had more to say about Fears and that call when asked about it after the game, claiming he felt there was a “one-sided” dynamic regarding the foul calls between his players and Michigan’s.

“I’m sick of it being one-sided. That’s what upset me about the first time. Fears will get his lunch from me. I wonder if some of their guys will get their lunch from what happened in the first game, that didn’t get public?” Izzo said when asked about the incident at his postgame press conference.

Adding to the significance of today’s technical on Fears is that he had a previous kicking incident. In a game over a month ago against Minnesota, Fears also swung his leg back into Langston Reynolds’ groin area after the referees called a foul on Reynolds.

After a review, officials issued Fears a technical foul for the move, and, coupled with today’s incident and others, it has created a situation in which many people are questioning the Spartan player’s sportsmanship.

After Sunday’s loss to their rivals, Fears and Michigan State (25-6) are the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament this week at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. With games beginning Tuesday, they await their opponent for Friday’s quarterfinals.

For more about Michigan State and college basketball, head over to Newsweek Sports.

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