Michigan State races away in the second half to down Cornell 114-97 as it ends non-conference play for 2025

Michigan State was looking to end 2025 on a high note and did just that with its non-conference finale, downing Cornell 114-97.

The Spartans buckled down on defense in the second half while running away with it offensively to send the Big Red home.

It was the most points scored at home by MSU since 2008 when the Spartans defeated Alcorn State 118-60 on Dec. 13.

The game was the first in the series since MSU hosted Cornell on Nov. 24, 2000 and won 89-56 in the Spartans Classic Semifinal matchup.

The win Monday night improves MSU to 12-1 on the season while Cornell falls to 6-6 with the loss.

Jeremy Fears Jr. led all scorers Monday night while setting a career record with 21 points, notching a double-double with his team-high 11 assists. Fears was 7-11 from the field and 3-5 from 3-point range while also finishing the night 4-5 from the free throw line.

Coen Carr was right on Fears heals with 19 points alongside six rebounds, the latter being a three-way tie for second most by a Spartan on the night. Carr was just 9-16 from the free throw line, though, showing an exceptional talent for drawing fouls against the Big Red but a severe struggle in finishing that advantage.

Trey Fort III added 12 points, Divine Ugochukwu scored 12, Jaxon Kohler notched yet another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Kur Teng rounded out MSU players in double figures for scoring with 10 points, including 3-4 from 3-point range.

Other notable stats lines included a team-high three steals for Denham Wojcik and a late 3-pointer for Nick Sanders. Carson Cooper fell just shy of double digits with nine points while also grabbing six boards, joining Carr and Jordan Scott in the three-way tie for second on the glass for the team.

Meanwhile, five players for Cornell finished in double figures led by Cooper Noard's 19 points. While the Big Red scored 15 3-pointers overall, besting the No. 1 average in the country of 14.2 entering the game, the Big Red shot well below the season average (41.6%) from deep, connecting on just 34.1% of their attempts.

First Half

Cornell jumped out to an early double-digit lead over Michigan State, holding a 15-4 advantage after a 3-pointer by Adam Hinton at the 16:09 mark. Also, all four points belonged to Carr.

Despite the slow start, MSU started a slow but steady climb out of its double-digit deficit, cutting it to just six by the U16 media break with 14:49 left in the half. MSU returned and narrowed it to just four by the 12:48 mark before a 5-0 run by the Big Red pushed it back to nine, up 24-15 with 12:08 left in the half.

By the 5:46 mark, the Spartans had their first lead of the game. A back-and-forth affair ensued until the final buzzer at the half as the game was either tied or one team took a narrow lead 14 times from there until a Fears layup as time expired gave MSU the 55-53 edge at halftime.

Second Half

While Cornell opened the second half with a trey by Noard to retake the lead, MSU promptly seized it right back thanks to first tying it up on the back half of two free throws from Carr after he missed the first to tie it up at 56 before Carr gave the Spartans the lead on a breakaway layup one play later. MSU had opened a double-digit lead by the 15:40 mark and held it for good after a second-chance jumper by Fort with 14:23 left.

Among the offensive highlights of the half were of course yet more dunks from Carr, including this and-one dunk below.

The Spartans sent in several backups late that led to a crowd-pleasing trey from Nick Sanders, just his fourth of his career, but second of this season after scoring one against Detroit Mercy.

No. 9 Michigan State returns to the road as it resumes Big Ten play. The Spartans take on currently undefeated No. 13 Nebraska in Lincoln on Friday night. The Huskers will host New Hampshire tomorrow night before welcoming MSU. Tip is set for 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday night with the game exclusively streamed on Peacock.