By CRAIG HANDEL Associated Press
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 19 points and No. 11 Michigan State pulled away to beat No. 16 North Carolina 74-58 In the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Thursday.
Fears, who came in leading the nation in assists at more than 10 per game, added seven assists. Carson Cooper had 14 points, Cam Ward 11 and Jaxson Kohler 10 along with 11 rebounds for his third double-double of season.
Caleb Wilson led North Carolina (6-1) with 18 points, Henri Veesaar had 13 and Luka Bogavac added 11, but the Tar Heels shot just 38% (21 of 55).
Michigan State (7-0) went 5 of 10 on 3-pointers while North Carolina went 4 of 23. The Spartans also had a 20-5 margin in bench points.
Wilson led the Tar Heels to an early 22-15 lead.
However, the Spartans tightened their defense and held North Carolina scoreless for more than 4 1/2 minutes during a 13-0 run to go up 28-22. Cooper’s left-handed slam off an alley-oop pass from Fears highlighted the run.
Michigan State led 33-28 at halftime.
With play speeding up in the second half, the Spartans increased their lead.
Kohler’s 3-pointer put Michigan State ahead 53-44. North Carolina drew within 55-52 but the Spartans responded with a 9-0 run. After making a 3-pointer, Fears fed Ward for a layup. A few minutes later, Fears hit a high-arching bank shot in the paint with the shot clock at zero to put the Spartans on top 66-54 with 4:26 left.
While North Carolina has a 13-6 edge in the series, Michigan State has won three of the last four between the teams.
Up Next
Michigan State will open Big Ten play at home against Iowa on Tuesday.
North Carolina will travel to Kentucky, also on Tuesday.