Michigan State Men's Basketball lost its number two guard, Divine Ugochukwu, to a broken leg on Wednesday, a big blow to a team grappling with poor guard play. 

Now, Izzo says he’s still weighing whether or not to start Jeremy Fears Jr. after multiple on-court incidents and a costly technical foul. 

In MSU’s home loss to Michigan last week, video circulated online of Fears tripping UM’s Yaxel Lendeborg. In Wednesday’s loss to Minnesota, Fears kicked his leg back, hitting Minnesota’s Langston Reynolds in the groin, earning Fears a technical foul. 

After the game, Minnesota head coach Niko Medved told reporters that Fears is a great player but needs to get a hold of his emotions at times. 

“He's a competitor, that's who he is. He gets a little carried away,” Medved said. “There's a time you can't do what he did, and I guarantee you he knows that, but he's a great player.”

All season, Fears has made a brand for himself by overselling contact, hoping for fouls on both sides of the ball. Fears has a free-throw rate of 61, ranking fifth in the Big Ten. Fears’ game is simple; he passes the ball, gets to the basket, and gets fouled. 

That strategy worked well for him through the first half of the season, but it has given the redshirt sophomore problems over the past week as teams adjust to his style. Against Minnesota, Fears amplified his hunt for fouls with excessive contact and a delay of game penalty late in MSU’s comeback effort. 

Today, Izzo said Fears needs to find a better way to control his emotions in games.

“You can create your own philosophy on whether it's right, wrong, or indifferent, but I promise you this is not nearly what it was made out to be in the first place,” Izzo said. “Does he have to learn how to compete without competing that aggressively? Yeah.”

Fears has garnered comparisons to former Spartan Draymond Green with his physical play on the court. Izzo had a productive “come-to-Jesus” meeting with Fears on Thursday, saying he knows Fears doesn’t aim to hurt anyone with his play.