Iowa's Patrick McCaffery drives between Michigan State's Max Christie (5) and Tyson Walker (2) during their game on Feb. 22, 2022 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)
Observations: No. 25 Iowa Spanks Spartans
Five observations from Iowa’s 86-60 win over Michigan State on Tuesday night.
DOMINATING THE SPARTANS, AGAIN
The Hawkeyes had a 30-point win over Michigan State last season.
They led by as much as 32 points in this game.
To do that against the Spartans means imposing your will, and the Hawkeyes did that.
“It felt,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said, “more like an ambush.”
The Hawkeyes outrebounded Michigan State 44-43, held the Spartans to 29.7 percent shooting in the second half, and outside of the first 21 seconds of the game controlled everything that went on.
That’s domination.
“We knew the fight we were going into,” forward Keegan Murray said. “We wanted to be the more physical team.”
The biggest lead was 84-52 with 3:11 to play. By then, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was emptying the bench.
That doesn’t happen against the Spartans very much. But the Hawkeyes are finding a way to do it.
THE STAR
Izzo knew how to describe Murray, who had 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
“They’ve got a star,” Izzo said. “He’s a star.”
The Spartans found out what everyone else in the Big Ten has learned, that there’s no way to stop Murray.
“Keegan is a special talent,” Izzo said. “And he does it in a special way.”
It was a night of star power at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with former center Luka Garza back for the retirement of his jersey number 55.
Garza was sitting courtside, and Murray made sure to acknowledge him with a little flex of the muscles after scoring on a layup and getting fouled.
“I just wanted to resemble him a little bit,” Murray said.
It was a night when Murray was the star, just the way Garza used to be.
KRIS WAS GOOD, TOO
Kris Murray, Keegan’s twin brother, had 11 points all in the second half. And they combined for another one of those “Murray runs,” with the two scoring 14 consecutive points in the second half to give Iowa a 75-49 lead with nine minutes to play.
“They’ve changed their games,” Izzo said of the Murrays.
Kris doesn’t play the minutes of Keegan, but can be just as effective. And McCaffery has found the right way to use both together if necessary.
BOHANNON’S BOMBS
Jordan Bohannon scored 11 points, but it was his back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half that lit a fuse for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa missed eight of its first nine shots of the second half, but maintained its double-digit halftime lead by making seven consecutive free throws.
Then Bohannon nailed two deep threes in the span of 30 seconds, and Iowa led 61-44.
THE PERFECT NIGHT
Izzo said how the Hawkeyes played was a perfect way to honor Garza, as well as Murray Wier, Roy Marble and Chuck Darling, and he was right.
On a night when much of the state had to deal with winter weather, Carver-Hawkeye Arena was nearly packed.
“You wake up and see that ice and you’re not sure who’s going to be able to get here,” McCaffery said.
But the Hawkeyes thrived off the emotion of the night. The Bohannon threes provided plenty of energy after the emotional halftime ceremony for Garza, and the Hawkeyes carried that to the finish.
They’re 5-1 in February, now in a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten, and not-so-quietly playing their best basketball of the season.
