Michigan State vs. Iowa: College Basketball game preview, TV schedule

No. 9 Michigan State hosts No. 14 Iowa in an early-season Big Ten clash.

The 14th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes will travel to East Lansing to face the ninth-ranked Michigan State Spartans on Dec 3. With the Big Ten going to a balanced schedule, meaning that every conference team will play each other twice, this is a fabulous early season matchup that could have ramifications down the line. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by FS1 while the action will also be live streamed on Fox Sports Go.

Michigan State (6-2) is expected to contend for the Big Ten regular season and can improve to 2-0 in conference play with a win Monday. Meanwhile, an early season road upset victory by Iowa (6-1, 0-1 Big Ten) can only strengthen the Hawkeyes bid for an at-large NCAA berth. Entering the season, the Hawkeyes were projected to finish among the bottom third in the league.

This is the 123rd all-time meeting between the two schools with the Spartans holding a 73-55 edge in the series, which includes claiming victory in 16 of the last 19 meetings. MSU has won nine of the last 10 games at the Breslin Center and own a 44-18 record in games played in East Lansing.

Michigan State enters the contest having won six of seven games and is coming off a 78-69 victory over Rutgers.  After leading just 39-37 at halftime, the Spartans used an early 12-1 second-half run to take control of the game. Junior guard Cassius Winston scored a game-high 22 points and senior forward Nick Ward added 20 points.

Iowa suffered its first loss of the campaign in its Big Ten opener, falling to No. 22 Wisconsin 72-66. Junior forward Tyler Cook led the way for the Hawkeyes with 19 points and 15 caroms.

More from Busting Brackets

• NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 5 teams for top-100 SG Larry Johnson
• Oregon Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24
• Big East Basketball: Ranking all head coaches going into 2023-24 season
• Florida State Basketball: Is Seminoles roster good enough to win in 2023-24?
• SEC Basketball: 10 potential additions for the league if they ever expanded

Michigan State Spartans

The Spartans are one of the favorites to win the conference regular season title for a second consecutive season, something that they have not done since 2008-10, and for good reason, as they are very talented.

MSU, which began the season ranked 10th in the AP poll, started the season with tough loss to then No. 1 Kansas (92-87) in the Champions Classic. The Spartans followed that loss by rolling over Florida Gulf Coast, Louisiana-Monroe and Tennessee Tech. The Spartans got their first victory over a ranked team with an 87-67 win over-then No. 17 UCLA. They then extended their win streak to five games by defeating Texas before falling to Louisville in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

MSU has an explosive offense that is led by Winston (17.1 ppg), who is sixth in the nation with 7.1 assists a game. Winston, a dangerous perimeter shooter, has topped the 20-point plateau three times this year. Winston and junior guard Joshua Langford, who has really stepped up his game offensively this year, combine to make 5.7 triples a game and both rank in the top-10 of the conference in three-point shooting. The Spartans rank 18th in the nation in scoring at 87.0 points a game, 36th in three-pointers (78) and 17th in three-point percentage (41.5%). However, they went just five of 16 from beyond the arc against Rutgers.

While Winston is one of the top of the point guards in the nation and Langford is having a career season, the Spartans’ real strength is in their frontcourt. The Spartans are one of the best rebounding teams in the nation as they rank 50th in offensive rebound, 24th in offensive rebound and 21st in total rebounds.

6-foot-8 junior forward Nick Ward is a bull inside on the offensive end and an excellent rim-protector as well as a solid rebounder. 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Xavier Tillman is an athletic rebounder while 6-foot-6 Kenny Goins is third in the league in rebounds at 10 a game.

Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes opened the season on a six-game winning streak, which includes victories over then 13th-ranked Oregon and UConn in the 2K Sports Classic to claim the event’s title.

Iowa is a good shooting team that ranks 50th in the nation in scoring at 82.6 points a game. The 69 and 66 points that they posted the last two games are their lowest point totals of the season.

The Hawkeyes are very aggressive and get to the line over 32 times a game, which is eighth most in the nation. They are third in free throws made and 20th in free throw percentage 77.3.

Cook, who is a beast down low, leads the way for the Hawkeyes with 15.4 points and 8.1 caroms. 6-foot-11 sophomore Luka Garza and 6-foot-6 freshman guard Joe Wieskamp are also averaging double figures.

Defensively, Iowa is giving up 72 points a game. The one thing that the Hawkeyes do real well is defend the three-point line as opponents are shooting just 31.1peecent from beyond the arc.

Prediction: MSU 88, Iowa 72