STATE FARM CHAMPIONS CLASSIC: KENTUCKY VS MICHIGAN STATE

November 10, 2026

Jeremy Fears, Jr.

Cam Ward

Michigan State Spartans

Press Conference

Michigan State 79, Duke 73

Q. I guess for both you guys, what does a win like this mean early in the season, and can you talk about the defensive effort tonight?

JEREMY FEARS JR: A win like this early in the season is huge, especially the fact that everybody knows we didn't play our best in the two exhibitions which kind of means nothing, but at the same time means a lot to us.

Just to show growth, improvement, and that that was a steppingstone, and we're still getting better.

CAM WARD: This means a lot, especially like Jeremy said we didn't play well in the first exhibition games and the first two games of the season were kind of rocky, but I think this is a great example of how we could be for the rest of the season, so I'm glad we made it happen tonight.

Q. Jeremy, I wanted to ask you about the early start. How much was Coach preaching for you guys to come out and kind of be the aggressor tonight, and what was going right in those first maybe eight minutes for you guys?

JEREMY FEARS JR: A lot. He's been big on me lately especially about pushing the ball, pushing the tempo. The past couple games I don't think I've been doing that for the best of my ability. That was big on my mind, just trying to get out, get out, get out every possession.

Guys are running, guys are making shots, and we got off to a good lead. That I'm pretty sure helped us throughout the whole game. I don't think we trailed at all the whole game. But that early start kind of helped us.

Q. For both of you, the defensive effort from everyone seemed strong in this one, but particularly Jordan Scott. What can you say about his performance and how impressive was that?

CAM WARD: You see it every game. Jordan is the X factor on defense. He does it all. He had six blocks tonight. Just he's everywhere all the time. It's just like a luxury to have him on our team, especially when he can be that guy for us.

JEREMY FEARS JR: I mean, I'd say we seen it last year, we seen it versus some big time opponents and players. Just carried on this year. He got stronger, he got better, and he made that freshman to sophomore jump.

Q. Cam, is this coming out party No. 2 for you in November, and what did it mean that you had a nine-point lead and you knew that Jeremy had three points at the half and was going to...

CAM WARD: It meant a lot, you know what I'm sayin', especially just because I haven't been playing well. So just to finally find some type of rhythm feels good.

And then of course like you said we were up at half and Jeremy hadn't seen one go in yet. So for him to have a big second half like he did was definitely huge for us.

Q. Cam, coming off that injury that you suffered early on, you missed that first exhibition game against Incarnate Word. What was going right for you in the first half?

CAM WARD: I think I was in the right spot at the right time, you know what I'm sayin'?

Jeremy was finding me on a lot of trails and lobs, so I'm just appreciative to having him as my point guard, and just got to pick my spots the right way and I think good things happen.

Q. Want to ask you about Cam's performance first, but also Jasiah, for him to come out on this stage early as a freshman and start off the way you guys did, what stood out to you about him?

JEREMY FEARS JR: Firstly Cam we know he kind of been struggling and we wanted to help him. He's been grinding, keep grinding, grinding, so at the same time him playing big, especially in the first half, was huge for us. He had some big time finishes, and overall he was huge for us.

But we see it every day. He's a shot maker, tough shot taker, and I'm glad he's on our squad. I recruited him hard even when he came last year. Happy to have him and he's been showing it day in and day out.

Q. Jeremy, both your freshmen classmates, Carlos and Jasiah as well both had a couple big threes in this game. For them this is their first real big game of their college careers. What's it say about them to step up in this one?

JEREMY FEARS JR: Huge. I've been harping on this freshman class since they got here. The goal for us is to keep helping them, keep improving them, and I think they can take us over the limit. Jasiah is a big time shot maker, CJ shot maker, and even credit to ET. He had a big and-1 at the end of the half and gave is a little bit of a boost of momentum with some big time defense and a couple blocks.

So at the same time, this freshman class is special, but our goal is to help helping them get improved and keep getting up to speed.

Q. Jeremy, you went 0 for 10 against Duke last year from the field. Only three points at halftime today. How did you keep the confidence to go out in the second half and have a big offensive performance?

JEREMY FEARS JR: The fact that my coaches, my teammates, they trusted me and put me in positions to be successful. At the same time, I put the work in, I put the time in, and just keep trusting whatever I'm doing that it's going to work. And at the end of the day if it, don't credit to Cam, Jasiah, CJ, Coen. Like those guys are in the right spots and they were going to help us get this win even if I didn't have a performance or score as much.