No. 18 Iowa dominated in the post earlier this season, but on Monday, it was the polar opposite – No. 10 Michigan State had its way in the paint during its 90-68 win over Iowa in East Lansing, Michigan – the Spartan’s 23rd win by at least 10 points in the past 23 seasons.

The Spartans cruised to a 22-point victory thanks to a night in which they shot 51.7 percent from the field. Most of Michigan State’s damage came down low from Nick Ward, who cooked Iowa in the paint. The junior forward scored a game-high 26 points, made all 10 of his field goal attempts, and grabbed 9 rebounds to pace the Spartans.

Fellow big man Kenny Goins flirted with a triple-double, scoring 19 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dishing 7 assists.

“I’ve always been impressed with [Goins],” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “I think a better indicator of everybody is what [Michigan State head coach] Tom [Izzo] thinks of them. Tom has always played him, trusts him… The guy’s a winner.”

Tyler Cook scored a team-high 15 points to lead the Hawkeyes’ offensive charge, but the Black and Gold battled foul trouble all night in front of a raucous Breslin Center crowd. Iowa committed 23 fouls, and Michigan State capitalized, making 25 of its 32 free throws. The Hawkeyes missed 10 of their 30 attempts from the stripe, but the Hawkeyes’ biggest issue heading into a matchup with Iowa State lies in Joe Wieskamp’s health.

The freshman guard rolled his ankle in the second half, and, unable to put much of his weight on his foot, he was helped off the court.

According to head coach Fran McCaffery, the Muscatine native will be a game-time decision for Thursday’s Cy-Hawk contest.

But Wieskamp’s injury wasn’t the deciding factor in the loss. Much like how Iowa struggled to hit shots down the stretch of its 72-66 loss against No. 22 Wisconsin on Nov. 30, the Hawkeyes’ scoring well ran bone-dry in the second half. Iowa missed all but one of its first 20 field goals of the second half.

“Pretty much everything [went wrong after half],” McCaffery said. “We didn’t get anything going offensively. They did. It was their ball to start, they got some good offensive possessions and we had a couple turnovers.”

Meanwhile, Iowa failed to get any production from its post players. Luka Garza failed to score until there were 10:11 remaining in the game. He finished with 7 points (on an abysmal 1-of-10 shooting) and a team-high 9 rebounds.

Jordan Bohannon got things going early from behind the 3-point arc, but he finished 4-for-12 from the field, scoring 11 points. Isaiah Moss was the second-highest scorer on the team, netting 13.

And while Iowa’s offense struggled to find any sort of consistency, Michigan State’s ball movement carved up the Hawkeye defense all game long. The Spartans assisted on 28 of their 31 made shots (for those non-mathematicians, Michigan State assisted on 90 percent of its field goal attempts).

Now, the Hawkeyes turn their attention to in-state rival Iowa State. The Cyclones travel to Carver for a 7 p.m. showdown in the off.