It wasn’t a perfect night in East Lansing, as, at one point, Michigan State trailed by seven in the first half. But once again, Michigan State, fueled by its stifling defense and some heroics from Jeremy Fears Jr., who set a new career-high with 23 points, was able to secure a 21-point win over Indiana at home.

After the game, Tom Izzo was complimentary of Fears and his talented freshmen, and you can see what he had to say below:

• “Thank god Jeremy and our freshman carried us tonight.”
• “He’s (Jeremy Fears Jr.) still not a three-point shooter, he’s still getting better. I thought his defense and running our offense was better. He did a hell of a job. If he gets the ball moving, I told him and Coen all week, they are the key defensively.”
• “I thought Coen did a hell of a job defensively, but he needs to rebound better.”
• “Kur Teng is starting to play better and better. He struggles in some areas, but making shots cures a lot of sins.”
• “I like that Kur Teng is more aggressive with the ball, without the ball. When you go, other people get the rebound because you went. We haven’t had those games where five or six guys go at once. We need more consistency at the two.”
• “I don’t want Jeremy Fears Jr. to think he’s a three point shooter until he becomes a good one. All in all, I think this was one of his best games.”
• “I like Jordan Scott a lot. At times, I want to start him. I’m not a big analytics guy. What I see, I like. I liked what he did, more than his +/-. He can guard, he’s tough, he can rebound, he’s improving every day.”
• “When we do it right, when Jeremy pushes like he’s been doing, we can be an effective team. We’re getting better. We just have to get consistently better.”
• “We did have two guys over 30 minutes this time. As long as you keep them under 30, keep them fresher. I still think we have to have strength in numbers. Trey Fort’s day will come. Jesse McCulloch’s day will come. They played small ball, we couldn’t play him much today.”
• On the upcoming road trip: “The most important thing I learned, what I want to different from last time. I want to go there and win two games. There was no fault in how we prepared, how we travelled. It was not easy. These are college guys, they’re not used to the West Coast trips.”
• “I will keep living the dream, and try not to wake up.”
• “Jaxon Kohler deserves everything he’s gotten. There is not a guy on the team that works harder than him. He lives it every day. He has very few bad practices. He just keeps grinding it. I can’t take any credit for that. He does it, he’s made himself a very good player.”
• “Jaden Akins was so complimentary of the team in the locker room after the game. I told him, if Jeremy played the way he did pushing the ball, Jaden would have put up 20 a game last year.”
• “I thought Coen Carr’s preparation, his film study, the way he wanted to cover, he was phenomenal.”
• “I’m telling you, that is a good basketball team we beat. They are well coached, they run well, they hurt us early with the slips on their bigs. All in all, big win for us.”
• “Coen Carr is becoming a much better leader. What I need is Coen to break out offensively. I still believe he is going to be a hell of a player.”

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: What Tom Izzo said about Michigan State basketball’s win over Indiana