Jeremy Fears Jr. poured in 15 of his 19 points in the second half and Carson Cooper racked up 14 points as No. 11 Michigan State used a key 9-0 run down the stretch to win 74-58 over No. 16 North Carolina in the Fort Myers Tip-off on Thursday in Fort Myers, Fla.
Cam Ward had 11 points off the Michigan State bench and Jaxon Kohler contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Spartans (7-0) shot 62% in the second half.
North Carolina (6-1) went more than four minutes without a field goal to end the game.
Caleb Wilson notched 18 points, Henri Veesaar finished with 13 points and Luka Bogavac had 11 for the previously unbeaten Tar Heels. North Carolina shot 4-for-23 from 3-point range, with starting guards Bogavac and Kyan Evans a combined 1-for-11.
The Tar Heels were within 55-52 with 8 1/2 minutes to play. But the Spartans rattled off the next nine points, with Ward converting a pair of shots. North Carolina used a timeout at the 5:17 mark, trailing 64-52.
Wilson and Veesaar both missed the front end of 1-and-1 free-throw opportunities as North Carolina failed to put together a comeback.
The Tar Heels trailed 33-28 at halftime after shooting 33.3% from the field. Michigan State used a 13-0 run to go ahead 28-22 while North Carolina had a scoring drought of more than four minutes.
This followed a stretch when the Spartans missed 10 of 11 shots from the floor.
While this was billed as a tournament final, the teams were slated to meet in a marquee Thanksgiving Day matchup regardless of results earlier this week.
–Field Level Media
