The Iowa men’s basketball team upended No. 1 Michigan State, 83-70, on Tuesday in Carver-Hawkeye.
By Ian Murphy
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With the football team dominating the headlines in the midst of preparations for the Rose Bowl, the Iowa men’s basketball team treated fans to a late Christmas present in the form of a monumental upset over Michigan State on Tuesday.
It was the first time for a No. 1-ranked team to visit Carver-Hawkeye in 10 years, and the Hawkeyes pulled off the upset thanks to a dominant performance on both ends of the court, forcing the Spartans to use the full shot clock often and pushing the tempo on offense.
Down go the Spartans. Final #Hawkeyes 83 Spartans 70. pic.twitter.com/UUN7oDXv4y
— Ian Murphy (@IanFromIowa) December 30, 2015
Senior Mike Gesell, the leader on the offensive end of the court, found a higher gear at halftime, erupting for 21 points after the break en route to 25 in the game, a career high.
“It feels good,” Gesell said. “Like I said, I don’t focus on stats, just trying to do anything I can to help my team win.”
Gesell’s spark was essential for the Hawkeyes, because leading scorer Jarrod Uthoff was mired in foul trouble in both halves. Uthoff played 26 minutes and logged a quiet 10 points and 5 rebounds against the Spartans, who were without their best player, Denzel Valentine.
On the defensive end, the Hawkeyes lost the rebounding battle, 41-35 but won the turnover battle, 16-12.
The field-goal percentages greatly favored the Hawkeyes, who outshot the Spartans 48.2 percent to 42.2. The Spartans were a dreadful 23.1 percent from behind the arc.
That defensive proved to be key in the Hawkeyes’ first ever victory over a No. 1 team at home.
The Hawkeyes scored first and never gave up the lead. The margin stretched to double digits with 6:23 left in the first half, and the game was all but over. The Spartans never cut the lead back to single digits.
“We didn’t really play that good on offense,” junior Peter Jok said. “But our defense carried us.”
In, arguably, its best all-around win of the season, Iowa hadn’t beat a No. 1 team since beating UConn in Madison Square Garden in 1999. The outing was impressive, and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said as much.
“One of the rare times in my career, I thought, for better choice of word, we got punked,” Izzo said. “We got ‘out-physicaled.’ We got outhustled. [Iowa] got every loose ball.”
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery noted the Hawks’ defensive performance, particularly that of senior Anthony Clemmons, a native of Michigan, who, like the rest of the senior class, notched his first win over Michigan State.
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Clemmons held Michigan State guard Bryn Forbes to just 3 points. Forbes had 32 in Michigan State’s last outing, against Oakland.
All things told, the Hawkeyes played a complete game against the Spartans, but they aren’t content.
“It’s the first game in the Big Ten season,” McCaffery said. “Celebrate tonight and go back to work tomorrow. It’s one win.
“Hopefully, we learned lessons of how to compete, how to execute, and how to not take a possession off, and we carry that over for Purdue.”
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