Hawkeyes snap two-game losing skid with 84-78 victory over Spartans
The Iowa men’s basketball team improves to 13-4 on the season after its first win over Michigan State since 2016.
Iowa Center Luka Garza celebrates during the Iowa Men’s Basketball game against Michigan on Feb. 2, 2021 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. At halftime, Iowa leads 48-43. (Casey Stone/The Daily Iowan)
February 2, 2021
Heading into Tuesday’s matchup, the Iowa men’s basketball team hadn’t defeated Michigan State since 2016.
But the No. 8 Hawkeyes (13-4 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) snapped their drought in the series with the Spartans and got back into the win column after a two-game losing skid with an 84-78 victory over Michigan State (8-7, 2-7) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Luka Garza scored 27 points and surpassed the 2,000-point mark for his career to lead Iowa to victory.
Both teams had lineup changes for their Tuesday clash.
The Spartans inserted point guard Foster Loyer and center Marcus Bingham Jr. into their starting five. Bingham Jr. is the ninth different player to start a game for Michigan State this season. For the Hawkeyes, guard C.J. Fredrick returned to the starting lineup after missing 1.5 games with a lower leg injury.
Fredrick scored two points on two shots in 12 minutes in his return to the floor.
Michigan State, the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten, hit its first six shots from beyond the arc against Iowa. By the 12:21 mark of the first half, the Spartans had jumped out to an early 11-point lead.
Iowa guard Joe Wieskamp stole a Michigan State pass and went coast to coast, converting on a contested layup at the 5:51 mark of the first half. That was the end of a 7-0 for the Hawkeyes, which brought them to within two points. Garza knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 38-38 with 2:48 left in the half, then pushed Iowa into the lead for the first time with a made basket plus another free throw.
Michigan State tied the game its next time down the floor, but Iowa controlled the first half after that.
The Hawkeyes carried a 48-43 lead into halftime.
Just under two minutes into the second half, Garza hit a 3-pointer from the corner to surpass the 2,000-point mark in his Hawkeye career. The senior from Washington, D.C., is only the second player in program history to reach that milestone, joining Iowa’s all-time leading scorer Roy Marble.
Iowa dominated the early part of the final 20 minutes of the game, but Michigan State fought back.
The Spartans used a 12-2 run to take a two-point lead with 12:22 remaining in the game.
After trading baskets down the floor in a close stretch, Iowa took control in the game’s final minutes. Two buckets by Garza and one by freshman Keegan Murray contributed to a 6-0 Iowa run that put the Hawkeyes up 79-70. While Iowa took its lead back, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery had his bench players on the floor.
Joe Toussaint scored 10 points and dished out six assists on Tuesday night. Jack Nunge was good for 12 points and eight rebounds, and freshman guard Tony Perkins played stellar defense and scored four points. All three players contributed heavily down the stretch off the bench.
Michigan State cut Iowa’s lead to two points with 1:18 to play, and had the opportunity to tie the game or take the lead with under a minute to play. But the Spartans couldn’t convert and Jordan Bohannon hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left, then iced the game with two more with only 4.6 seconds remaining.
Iowa shot 50 percent from the floor in its victory. The Hawkeyes scored 39 bench points.
Forward Aaron Henry led Michigan State with 24 points and also tallied nine rebounds and five assists.
Next up on the schedule for Iowa is a top-10 contest with No. 7 Ohio State on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. and will air on ESPN.
