The Iowa men’s basketball team came back from an 11-point deficit with one minute left in regulation to force overtime and eventually defeat the Michigan State Spartans, 112-106, Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

After the two teams were tied at halftime, Michigan State led, 91-78, with 1:30 remaining and all signs pointed to a Spartan victory — Michigan State’s second over Iowa this season.

The Spartans outplayed the Hawkeyes during the first 19 minutes of the second half, shooting 14-of-22 from the field, and a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point land. 

But the lead the Michigan State built up over the second stanza evaporated in the final 60 ticks of regulation. 

“90 percent of the game, we did a hell of a job” — Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo

Michigan State took the lead, 51-49, at the 16:56 mark of the second half and led until Payton Sandfort’s game-tying 3-pointer with three seconds remaining.

Iowa cut the MSU lead to 68-66 with 8:38 remaining and then 73-70 with 6:54 left, but Michigan State went on a 9-2 run to open up a 10-point advantage with 3:59 on the clock — going 3-of-4 from the field during that span.

Michigan State’s 106 points were a season-high by 17 points. 

Until overtime, Michigan State shot 63 percent from the field and 11-of-13 from three — an 85 percent clip.

Spartan guard Tyson Walker had 31 points in regulation on 11-of-14 from the field, a performance at which Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo couldn’t help but marvel.

“That was one of the great performances of Big Ten history today if you ask me,” Izzo said of Walker. “He made shots off the dribble, he made shots off the drive, and he made shots from the three. Tyson Walker was unbelievable.”

But Walker didn’t score in the final 1:30 of regulation or in overtime, and that’s when the Hawkeyes came to life. 

Herculean Hawkeyes

With their team trailing by double digits with only a minute and change remaining, many Hakweye fans headed for the Carver exits. But those on the floor were going to fight until the final buzzer.

“We’ve kind of done this all year, where we just don’t give up,” Iowa forward Kris Murray said. “This is probably the biggest of circumstances, but I think the fight in us really showed those last few minutes when a lot of people thought we would give up and they gave up on us.”

RELATED: Turnovers, rebounding, three-point shooting fuel Iowa men’s basketball to historic comeback win against Michigan State

That fight, coupled with two offensive rebounds, two made free throws,  two Michigan State missed free throws, a Michigan State turnover, and five 3-pointers — all coming in the final 55 seconds of regulation — clawed Iowa to overtime. 

In the extra session, Iowa held Michigan State to one field goal, while the Hawkeyes converted 3-of-7. 

Iowa outrebounded Michigan State, 6-2 in overtime. 

Iowa point guard Tony Perkins summed up the Hawkeyes’ overtime mindset in three simple words: “we wanted it more.”

Big picture

The win moves Iowa to 18-11 overall and 10-8 in the Big Ten. Iowa is in seventh place in the conference but just one game out of third in the loss column. 

Before Saturday’s win, Iowa was projected everywhere from a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament to a No. 11 seed in various bracket predictions. 

“Definitely coming home, getting a win like that is huge for us because we knew this was a big game, especially at the end of this month for Big Ten tournament seeding, NCAA tournament,” Murray said. “So we knew it was a game that we had to get and a game that we couldn’t give up on.”

Up next 

The Hawkeyes head back on the road against the Indiana Hoosiers for their penultimate regular season game of the year on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Bloomington. 

The Hawkeyes beat the Hoosiers, 91-89, on Jan 5, overcoming a 21-point deficit.