Tom Izzo addresses technical foul on Jeremy Fears vs. Penn State: 'I wasn't mad at him for what he did'

Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears was called for a technical foul during the first half of the Spartans’ mid-week matchup against Penn State.

Spartans big man Szymon Zapala drove to the rim but was fouled hard by Penn State’s Ace Baldwin. Fears was in the corner by the 3-point line, and ran past an official to get in the ear of the Nittany Lions guard.

It appeared as though he was standing up for his teammate, but was called almost immediately for the technical. Tom Izzo addressed the tense moment on the court during the game.

“I didn’t like how it happened,” Izzo told Andy Katz following a media timeout in the first half. “It’s been kind of a physical game. That’s the way it is. I wasn’t mad at him for what he did and how he did it after we had talked about it.

“He’s going to be fine. We’ll get him back in.”

The foul was Fears’ first, so it didn’t take very long for Izzo to put him back on the floor. He finished the first half with five points, two rebounds and two assists.

Their leading scorer during the first 20 minutes was Coen Carr, who came off the bench to score nine points. 13 first-half assists for the Spartans helped see 10 players score as well.

Penn State also had its leading scorer come off the bench in the first half. D’Marco Dunn scored 10 points to lead all scorers at halftime, while Baldwin finished with seven points and four assists.

The Spartans ultimately took a 10-point lead into halftime, but wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance down the stretch. Penn State out-rebounded the Spartans 21-19, but that was the only statistical category which the Nittany Lions bested Michigan State.

Michigan State had more assists (13-10), steals (4-0), points in the paint (24), not to mention less turnovers (3-9) and fouls (8-11).

If the lead holds, the Spartans would not only improve to 6-0 in Big Ten Conference play and 9-0 on their home court this season, but they would also have won their 10th straight game.

Looking ahead, Michigan State hosts Illinois for a top-20 matchup on Sunday afternoon in what will be the first ranked matchup in Big Ten Conference play this season for the Spartans.