Head coach Tom Izzo said he gave his players “bullet points on things that I think they had to talk about,” but wasn’t in the room to know specifics. 

“I don't know what came out of it, that's the beauty of it,” Izzo said. “I shouldn't know what comes out of it; that's between them."

Sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. has made his mark as one of four captains, not only by making plays on the court but also by becoming a true player-coach. Fears has been a difference-maker in Jordan Scott’s confidence during his first few starts. After Michigan State’s win against Illinois, the sophomore point guard said he and the other captains were helping Scott handle the nerves of playing in such a big moment.

“He's a freshman, he got a little sped up, got nervous a little bit, but I try to talk to him,” Fears said. “Coen [Carr], [Carson] Cooper, Jaxon [Kohler], and I try to calm him down a little bit.”

As for the team’s meeting on Sunday night, Fears didn’t let on much, but said he knows everyone on the team is capable of improving their play greatly before the season is over. Currently, MSU’s four captains, Fears, Kohler, Cooper and Carr, lead in scoring, all eclipsing 10 points a game. Fears said he wants everyone else to keep moving up, too.

“Everybody is valuable, everybody brings something, and can help the team a lot,” Fears said. “Overall understanding that there’s always more work to be done. You can continue getting better at whatever stage you are in, whether you're a senior like Coop, you're a freshman like Jordan, or you're kind of in the middle like me, Jesse [McCulloch] and Kur [Teng].”

In November, freshman Cam Ward suffered a minor wrist injury, which coach Tom Izzo says he’s still managing at times. Against Ohio State, Ward was the only bench player besides Kur Teng to score, finishing with four points. Izzo said he wants Ward to play with even more aggression and “recklessness” as the season continues.

Ward echoed the sentiment after meeting with Coach Izzo Monday night. The hard-nosed freshman said he wants to play more free and loose. 

“Coach Wojick said it best, ‘you gotta play like you’re in the playground, like you don't have a lot of pressure on you.’ Playing at such a prestigious university doesn't really happen much [as a freshman],” Ward said. “Coach has been trying to tell me the past couple of weeks, don't apply unnecessary pressure to yourself when it's not needed.”

MSU has lost seven games in a row at Purdue’s Macky Arena, dating back to 2014. The Spartans are 1-6 in their last seven games against the Boilermakers, but won by 9 points at home last season. Purdue, 22-5 (12-4), has three home losses on the season and has just five at Mackey Arena in the last four seasons.

Junior forward Coen Carr said being able to practice with crowd noise at practice is helpful, especially in preparing for a raucous arena at Purdue.

“It gets you used to it. We always try to do that when we’re going into arenas like that,” Carr said. “[It’s about] being able to still be able to play tired when it's loud.”

Purdue’s Braden Smith and Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr. have emerged as the conference’s top point guards, both with a pass-first, score-second approach that has pushed them near the top of nearly every national assist leaderboard. Fears leads the nation with 9.2 assists per game, while Smith, who led for much of the season, averages 8.7. Earlier this year, Smith broke the Big Ten’s all-time assist record, previously held by Michigan State’s Cassius Winston.

Fears said he’s been watching a lot of Purdue’s game, but doesn’t compare himself to Smith like others have. Fears gave his compliments to the Boilermaker’s four-year starting point guard, saying he can’t wait to play.

“He's a talented guard, he makes plays, helps the team win and he does whatever he needs do to win,” Fears said. “He's a winner. But overall, I got to do whatever I can to try to help my team win and be the best for Michigan State Basketball.”

MSU sits third in the Big Ten, and Purdue is right at its heels in fourth with two weeks of regular-season play left. A top-four seed at the end of the season will guarantee a bye into the fourth round quarterfinals of the conference tournament and one extra day of rest. 

“We got a month left. There’s nothing that you're thinking about that can't happen a month from now,” Ward said. “So just trying to stay consistent, stay focused within the gym, and just not get deterred from your goals.”