IOWA CITY, Iowa – Michigan State thought it found something Saturday when it nearly rallied to beat Illinois at home, scoring 52 second-half points before just coming up short.
It turns out, that 20 minutes of play might have been the exception in a season that is quickly spiraling out of control.
The Spartans followed that outing with another clunker, getting run off the floor Tuesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena as No. 25 Iowa blitzed Michigan State, rolling to an 86-60 victory the same night the Hawkeyes retired the jersey of former center Luka Garza.
Iowa didn’t need the former Big Ten Player of the year in this one as the current roster torched the Spartans, burying 12 3-pointers and getting 28 points from Keegan Murray to hand Michigan State its fifth loss in the last six games.
It was so bad, the fans at Carver-Hawkeye serenaded the Spartans with “N-I-T” chants with more than five minutes to play.
Malik Hall was one of the few bright spots for Michigan State (18-9, 9-7 Big Ten), scoring 17 points, including 14 in the first half.
Iowa (19-9, 9-7) also got 11 points each from Jordan Bohannon and Kris Murray as the Hawkeyes grabbed 10 offensive rebounds as the Hawkeyes have now won five of six.
It didn’t take long for things to get away from the Spartans, who scored the first bucket of the game on a jump-hook from Marcus Bingham. Iowa quickly responded by going on a 13-2 surge take control of the game only four minutes into the first half.
Michigan State had a bit of a response by scoring the next seven points but Keegan Murray nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and the Hawkeyes were soon back up by double digits after a jumper from Joe Toussaint pushed the lead to 24-13. The lead soon grew to 15 points when Connor McCaffery nailed two triples in a row.
Despite 14 first-half points from Hall, the Spartans did little to slow the Hawkeyes’ offense, which shot 17 for 34 and made seven 3-pointers. Michigan State got within 10 with just less than four minutes to play, but Iowa quickly pushed back and took a 46-32 lead to the halftime locker room.
Michigan State made several surges in the second half but could never get over the hump. After scoring the first four points to cut the deficit to 10, it got two straight stops but turned the ball over and missed a 3-pointer. Iowa took advantage and eventually extended the margin to 55-39 after a five-point possession that included a technical foul on Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.
The Spartans then scored five in a row to pull within 11 with 13:55 to play, but two straight 3-pointers from Bohannon and a jumper from Keegan Murray gave Iowa a 63-44 lead, its biggest of the game at that point with 12:25 left in the game.
Iowa kept pouring it on from there, pushing the lead to 32 at one point, leading 84-52 with 3:11 to play.
