Spartans out of Big Ten tournament as UCLA puts Dent in Fears’ historic day
· Yahoo Sports
Chicago — For Michigan State, that one will leave a dent. Because Dent and UCLA aren’t yet leaving.
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In a war waged at the point as much as in the paint, No. 3 seed Michigan State fell victim to a 23-point, 12-assist game from UCLA point guard Donovan Dent in an 88-84 loss Friday in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals. Michigan State drew as close as two points in the final minute but couldn't complete a comeback from as much as 15 down in the second half.
Though the game ended in a loss, point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. led Michigan State (25-6) with 21 points and dished 13 assists to pass Cassius Winston for the single-season MSU assists record at 294 and counting. He notched the historic feed on a lob to Carson Cooper with 1:37 to play.
BOX SCORE: UCLA 88, Michigan State 84
Kur Teng and Carson Cooper scored 13 points each and Coen Carr added 12 as the Spartans outrebounded the Bruins 34-26 and outscored them 23-6 in second-chance points and 24-9 off the bench.
Coming off a triple-double in Thursday’s third-round win over Rutgers, Dent led UCLA (22-10) with 23 points while guard Trent Perry added 22. UCLA made 7-of-13 3-pointers to build an 11-point lead at halftime. The Bruins will face No. 7 seed Purdue in a Big Ten semifinal game at around 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
The opening game loss is Michigan State’s first in the Big Ten tournament since 2023, coincidentally the last time it was held at United Center.
Down 44-33 at halftime, Michigan State couldn’t gain ground on a UCLA team that played without Tyler Bilodeau all of the second half after the All-Big Ten forward suffered a right knee injury in the first half.
With 15:11 to play, Skyy Clark rose up to drain a 3 over Fears that gave UCLA a game-high 15-point lead, 54-39.
That appeared to wake Michigan State up. A 10-2 run included 3-pointers from Kur Teng and Trey Fort off the bench, plus the guiding hand of Fears. Fort kept adding after UCLA stabilized.
When UCLA needed an answer, Dent provided it. With 11:33 to play, he drove into the paint like he had all game and raised a floater over Cooper, drawing the and-one foul on the way. That got UCLA’s lead back to double digits, 61-51.
Carr picked up a pair of dunks out of the under-12 timeout, one off a feed from Fears and a power dribble to gather his control. UCLA, depleted inside by Bilodeau’s injury and four fouls putting Xavier Booker on the bench, struggled to keep up inside. Or outside. Fort hit a second 3 to make it 63-58, Clark matched him, then Kohler hit a 3 to stay within five. As UCLA called timeout and Kohler headed to the huddle, he and Tom Izzo exchanged impassioned roars.
Yet again, here came Dent. He fed Perry for a corner 3 out of that regroup, then drew his own stepback over the contesting hand of closeout by Jordan Scott, playing backup point guard in the second half.
Down 72-61, Michigan State missed three 3-pointers on the same possession, unable to turn its efforts on the offensive glass into points.
After three minutes, 42 seconds without an MSU bucket, Carr drove for a dunk and drew Booker’s fifth foul, sending his old MSU teammate to the UCLA bench and getting his Spartans on better footing before subbing out.
OH MY, COEN CARR 😳#B1GMBBT x @MSU_Basketballpic.twitter.com/OMzhcZiO4j
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) March 14, 2026
After another Perry 3, Scott matched him as part of a 5-0 run to get within seven points. The assist to Fears tied Cassius Winston’s junior year 2018-19 for the MSU single-season record at 291 assists. His own and-one made it 75-71 inside 2:30 to play, a comeback within reach.
Clark hit a corner 3 on Scott to stay in control. Then Fears dished an alley oop to Cooper to pass Winston at 292 season assists.
With 43.1 seconds on the clock, down five, Teng pump faked and fired a 3-pointer that bounced high off the rim and in. That made it 80-78, Michigan State with a puncher’s chance of turning a historic game into a winning one, too.
Late game execution kept UCLA in control, though Dent missed a one-and-one to give Michigan State a window. With 12.1 seconds to play, officials reviewed a play as Scott fouled Perry and Perry caught Scott's chin. The review came back clean. Perry hit the shots in front of a mostly hostile crowd.
Fears hit a layup with six seconds to go, then took an elbow to the face from Perry that left him sprawled out on the court. No review came, and Perry stayed ahead with two free throws and 5.1 seconds on the clock. Dent intercepted a pass by Scott up court to seal Michigan State's loss.
Michigan State drew a 6-5 lead three minutes in off an and-one 3 for Scott, and he blocked Dent at the other end. All of 50 seconds later, Michigan State clipped another highlight. As Fears sprinted in transition and stopped for his usual mid-range jumper, instead opting to put up a lob. As Cooper and Carr both sprinted their lanes to the cup, Cooper deferred and Carr flushed a reverse jam that sent United Center into a roar. So did his shot clock-beating 3-pointer at 4:56 that made it 12-8.
The lead didn’t stick around. An 8-2 run for UCLA snatched back the lead by 11:51, with Clark and Bilodeau among the contributors and Dent’s hand guiding the way. Perry and Fears traded 3s, a second for Perry pushed UCLA’s lead to five, and Clark hit a long 2 for the 26-18 lead with 8:35 to play.
Michigan State went cold with four missed jumpers over three minutes to follow Fears’ 3, but Ward got the lid off at 7:32 with a layup that pondered the rim before falling, a 26-20 deficit now more manageable.
Yet Michigan State drew no closer by halftime, untimely turnovers continuing to create issues. A bad pass from Scott to Carr — the freshman’s third of the half — led to a breakaway layup for UCLA’s Dailey at 6:51, and his next shot made it a 10-point difference. He and Dent, who had 12 points, seven assists in the first half alone, proved difference makers.
Up 35-23 with 3:33 remaining before halftime, Bilodeau went down the tunnel with the help of trainers after tweaking his right knee while defending Cooper under the rim. Booker subbed in for UCLA, picked up his second foul of the half as Perry (two fouls) and guard Eric Freeny (three) minded their fouls.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin, frustrated at a halftime interview, expressed his feelings to the Big Ten Network with an apparent jab at his Michigan State counterpart, Tom Izzo.
“We’re just playing basketball,” Cronin said. “Hard to do 8-on-5. I’m not in the Hall of Fame but we’re gonna do our best.”
Michigan State trimmed the deficit to 38-31 with a 6-0 run. Then UCLA responded with a matching burst as Dailey’s 3-pointer with 29 seconds on the clock provided half of it.
This is a developing story. Check detroitnews.com for updates.
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan State basketball is one and done in Big Ten tournament with loss to UCLA