IOWA CITY, Iowa — Michigan State was in position for a critical road victory on Saturday at Iowa, leading by 13 points with two minutes to play.
Instead, the Spartans head home after one of the most miraculous collapses in recent memory.
Iowa made five 3-pointers in the final 36 seconds of regulation to force overtime, where it pulled away for a 112-106 victory at a delirious Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Spartans did their best to hold off the surge, including at the free-throw line. But a split late from Jaden Akins and another from A.J. Hoggard with 10.2 to play proved to give Iowa life. After Hoggard missed his second — he was 12 for 14 for the game — Iowa buried its fourth 3-pointer in as many possessions as Payton Sandfort nailed one with three seconds to play. Hoggard's last-second heave bounced off the rim to send the game to overtime.
Once in the extra session, it was all Iowa, which got a put-back off an offensive rebound with less than 30 seconds to play from Tony Perkins to ice the victory.
For nearly 38 minutes, Michigan State was in position to walk away with a convincing victory, making 11 of 13 from 3-point range. The Spartans missed their only attempt in overtime, but by then, the damage had been done.
Tyson Walker scored 31 on 11-for-15 shooting, including 2-for-3 shooting from 3-point range to lead the Spartans (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten). Jaden Akins added 21 on 4-for-4 shooting from long range while Joey Hauser was also 4 for 4 with 18 points. Malik Hall scored 16 and Hoggard added 15.
Kris Murray finished with 26 for Iowa (18-11, 10-8), while Tony Perkins scored 24, Sandfort had 22 and Filip Rebraca 18.
The shots were falling in the first half as Michigan State was 6 for 8 from 3-point range and shot 63% overall in the first 20 minutes. Unfortunately for the Spartans, they also turned the ball over nine times and gave up five offensive rebounds as Iowa took advantage, making six 3s of its own as the teams were tied, 42-42, at halftime.
The Hawkeyes were in control early as Rebraca made his first five shots, helping Iowa build a 19-14 lead. That advantage grew to 24-18 as Sandfort started to heat up. He had three 3-pointers in the first half, but his run came at the same time as Hauser started to come to life.
His third triple with 4:44 to play gave Michigan State its first lead since it was 12-10. Iowa responded with three straight 3-pointers from three different players to take a 40-36 lead.
But Akins nailed back-to-back triples, the second with five seconds left in the half to tie the game at 42 headed to the halftime locker room.
Both teams picked up where they left off to open the second half, but Michigan State started to gain some separation with a 6-0 run that gave the Spartans a 55-49 lead with 16:12 to play after a pair of free throws from Hoggard.
The Spartans then hit three 3-pointers in a row, two coming from Akins, as the teams fired back and forth. The Michigan State lead grew to 68-61 after a free throw from Carson Cooper then extended it to 82-72 after a triple from Hauser then a deep jumper from Walker late in the shot clock after a steal from Hoggard.
The lead eventually grew to 89-76 with 2:03 to play before Iowa stormed back to tie the game in the final seconds and win in overtime.
