 moved into sole possession of second place in the conference, 1 1/2 games behind No. 9 Maryland, with their third win in four games.''We did a good job of fighting and holding it together,'' Winston said.The Hawkeyes (19-9, 10-7) started the night tied for second in the Big Ten and ended it slipping to sixth place, possibly making an impact on their seeding for the conference tournament in two weeks.Iowa's Luka Garza scored 20 on 8 of 21 shooting against a lot of attention.''They were really physical with me, probably as physical as a team has been with me this entire year,'' Garza said.Ryan Kriener had 18 points before fouling out late, and Connor McCaffery added 11 points for the Hawkeyes.''Michigan State doesn't double so they were going to live with other people scoring,'' Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. ''Connor and Kriener stepped up.'' Michigan State's Aaron Henry scored 17 points, one shy of his season high.''He was our best all-around player,'' Izzo said.Winston barely scored in the first half, and Xavier Tillman did not have a point before halftime after going to the bench early with two fouls.With Michigan State's top two scorers not producing, Iowa controlled the first half and was up 33-27 after 20 minutes.Winston bounced back in the second half and his team did, too. He made a 3-pointer on a designed play 30 seconds into the half and set up Tillman for a go-ahead basket in the lane midway through the half.''What I'm looking for (Winston) to do is take over games,'' Izzo said. ''And in the second half, he took the game over and that was pretty cool to see.'' Henry put the Spartans ahead for good at the free throw line with 4:17 left. They held onto a late lead after wasting one in the final minutes of their last home game against the Terrapins.INJURY REPORTIowa guard CJ Fredrick, who averages 10.7 points, missed his third straight game with an ankle injury.''I think CJ will be ready Saturday,'' Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.BLOCK MARKTillman's second blocked shot of the game with 1:11 left against Garza gave the junior 147 for his career, surpassing the Michigan State record set by Matt Costello in 2016.''What a great way to do it because Garza is really, really good,'' said Izzo, adding he is pushing for Tillman to win the Big Ten's defensive player of the year award.QUIET NIGHTHawkeyes guard Joe Wieskamp, who averages nearly 15 points to trail only Garza, had just five points on 2 of 5 shooting.''He struggled shooting and scoring, yeah,'' McCaffery said. ''In fairness to him, he took good shots that were open and he was defended well.'' POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Spartans have an opportunity to make a big jump in the poll if they can also beat the ninth-ranked and first-place Terrapins on the road this week. The Hawkeyes will have a chance to hold their position if they can bounce back with a win over No. 16 Penn State.BIG PICTUREIowa: Garza can't do it alone if the Hawkeyes are going to have a successful season and he had help at Michigan State with Kriener and McCaffery scoring in double digits.Michigan State: Watts and Henry contributed offensively, an encouraging sign for a team that needs more than just Winston and Tillman to score.''With Cash down and X (Tillman) out, I needed to be the guy to make something happen,'' Watts said.UP NEXTIowa: Hosts No. 16 Penn State on Saturday.Michigan State: Plays at Maryland on Saturday night.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Feb 24, 2020A second-place logjam in the Big Ten could start to sort itself out Tuesday night in East Lansing, Mich., when No. 18 Iowa visits No. 24 Michigan State.Both teams enter 10-6 in the league, tied with Penn State and Wisconsin and two games behind pace-setter Maryland.The Hawkeyes (19-8 overall) are coming off an 85-76 home win over Ohio State on Thursday. Junior center Luka Garza scored 24 points, right at his season average, and added a season-high four assists.The national player of the year candidate averaged 12.0 points and five rebounds in his three cracks at the Spartans (18-9) the past three seasons. In 70 combined minutes, he has attempted just eight free throws.Freshman guard CJ Fredrick has missed the past two games (both wins) with a sprained ankle, but the Hawkeyes' third-leading scorer was "fairly close" to returning against the Buckeyes, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery told reporters after the Ohio State game."We need him for the long term," McCaffery said. "We're not trying to steal one game and get 15 minutes out of him. There's no way he could have played 35 minutes. There's no sense putting him out there." The Hawkeyes, who got 24 points from their two-man bench against Ohio State, are 2-6 on the road against conference foes, with the only wins coming at last-place Northwestern and Minnesota.Iowa has dropped four straight games to the Spartans and 13 out of 15 in the series overall, dating to March 2011 and McCaffery's first season in Iowa City. In East Lansing, the Hawkeyes have dropped 20 of the past 21 meetings, dating to January 1994 and Jud Heathcote's penultimate season at the Spartans' helm.Iowa's past five road losses in the series have come by an average of 19.2 points. That includes a 90-68 loss in their most recent visit on Dec. 3, 2018."Others have to step up," McCaffrey said. "That's the way we have to play. We just can't put it all on Garza and (Joe) Weiskamp. That's not the team we have." The Spartans have dropped two straight at the Breslin Center and are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since late January.Spartans senior guard Cassius Winston is coming off a 23-point night in an 86-65 win at Nebraska last Thursday. Winston, an All-America candidate, needs 27 points to pass Jay Vincent (1977-81) for sixth in program history."I can't be very excited about us," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo told reporters after the Nebraska win. "Thank God for my sophomores. We struggled. What we did isn't going to get us where we need to get." Despite going to a four-guard lineup at times against the Cornhuskers, Michigan State committed a season-high 22 turnovers. They figure to rely more on a bigger lineup against the 6-foot-11 Garza, who is shooting nearly 56 percent from the field but just 64.7 percent from the foul line.Garza is averaging 9.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game."Every team presents a different challenge," Izzo said. "Now we'll play a team in Iowa who's bigger than big." --Field Level Media
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