Michigan State Basketball Smothers Iowa to Open Conference Play
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EAST LANSING, Mich. — It took a Herculean feat for Iowa to get an easy look against No. 7 Michigan State on Tuesday night. The Spartans' defense gave the Hawkeyes no room to breathe, as MSU cruised to a 71-52 victory over Iowa to easily grab a Big Ten win at home.
Iowa finished the night shooting just 37.8% from the field. Michigan State also dominated the glass at a staggering plus-19 advantage, just doubling up the Hawkeyes in rebounds (37-18).
Michigan State is now 8-0 on the season, and gets to 1-0 in the early chase for another conference title. This is also a Quad 1 victory for the Spartans, which helps build their tournament resume even further.
It's not getting any easier, though. MSU has a heavyweight clash with No. 4 Duke at the Breslin Center coming up on Saturday (noon ET, FOX).
First Half
This one was a slog at first. Seven minutes in, both teams had seven points apiece. That type of game is Iowa’s style, as the Hawkeyes have one of the slowest paces of play in the country.
Iowa began the game on a 5-0 spurt, but MSU responded with a slow-but-steady 9-2 run over the course of about six minutes. It didn’t feel like a run, though, since there was zero flow to the game. Twelve fouls were called in the game’s first 10 minutes, despite the protests of the Izzone.
The home crowd also responded pretty well to new head football coach Pat Fitzgerald, who was introduced earlier Tuesday. He came out on the court just before the game started and got a very warm welcome.
Fitzgerald also spoke to the crowd during one of the media timeouts in the first half.
That gap just kept building and building, until it was an extended 27-6 run that lasted nearly 13 minutes and gave Michigan State a 16-point advantage at 27-11 with about five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Hawkeyes got their scoring up a little bit in the closing moments, but weren’t able to close into the gap very much, and MSU held a 14-point lead at the buzzer. Jeremy Fears Jr. all scorers in the first half with 10 points (8-for-8 free throws), while Jaxon Kohler had eight points and eight rebounds.
Second Half
Michigan State kept playing tough defense to start the second half, as the lead reached 20 with 16:45 to go in the game.
Iowa's offense looked a lot more alive, though, as the Hawkeyes started to hit some more shots and were chipping away at the lead for a time. MSU still got some responses where it needed them, as the Spartans continued to enjoy a relatively comfortable lead, but not yet enough where it was time to declare the game over.
It was never really in doubt, though. Michigan State's lead was at least 13 for the entire second half, with the Hawkeyes not being consistent enough offensively to keep up or ever really threaten a comeback during their first true road game of the season.
MSU ended up building the lead even further, and plenty of fans felt safe to leave a little early with a 23-point lead at the final media timeout. Things settled at the final score of 71-52.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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