Jeremy Fears Jr. fuels No. 17 Michigan State past Detroit Mercy

Jeremy Fears Jr. had 18 points and 11 assists to lead No. 17 Michigan State to an 84-56 home win over in-state foe Detroit Mercy on Friday.

Coen Carr had 13 points and seven rebounds, Jaxon Kohler scored 13 points and Carson Cooper added 12 points to flank Fears for Michigan State.

The Spartans have won five straight to start the season and avoided a letdown following a big win over Kentucky in New York City on Tuesday.

Michigan State shot 45.9% from the field overall (28 of 61) and held a 42-31 rebounding advantage. The Spartans committed 12 turnovers.

Orlando Lovejoy scored 14 points to lead Detroit Mercy (1-5), which has lost three straight.

The Titans shot 36.7% from the field (22 of 60) and registered 15 turnovers.

Michigan State held a 47-31 lead early in the second half and went on an 8-0 run to push that advantage to 55-31 with 15:15 remaining after an alley-oop from Fears to Cooper.

Michigan State later took a 66-39 lead with 8:08 left following a 3-pointer by Fears and a thunderous alley-oop finish by Carr off a pass from Fears.

Detroit Mercy had a brief flurry, cutting Michigan State's lead to 20 at 71-51 with 4:52 to go after a basket by Nate Johnson from the baseline.

But back-to-back buckets by the Spartans restored their lead to 24 at 75-51 with 3:32 remaining and both teams emptied their benches.

Michigan State held a 41-25 lead at halftime, shooting 12 of 22 on 2-point shots in the first half.

Leading 21-13 midway through the first half, Michigan State went on an 8-2 run to take a 29-15 lead with 4:42 until halftime.

The Spartans later took a 17-point lead, 37-20, with 1:53 left in the first half.

Michigan State started off strong, taking a 17-4 lead 7:30 into the game as Detroit Mercy missed 16 of its first 18 shots to begin the game.