Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from Spartans home win over Iowa

Michigan State Basketball with its 78-70 win over Iowa has put the Spartans solely in 2nd place in the very competitive Big Ten conference. The Spartans turned up the offense in the 2nd half against the Hawkeyes and earned the win in front of a loud and rowdy home crowd.

Michigan State Basketball’s offense was not very efficient in the 1st half. The Spartans were only able to put up 27 total points in the first half. Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman combined for only 1 point in the first half. Tillman did not play much in the first half due to him getting two quick fouls and Winston did not put up many shots in the first half. Offensive woes were not the only issue in the first half.

Luka Garza, once Tillman went to the bench with his 2nd foul, looked like the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year candidate that many have labeled him as being. The Spartans had four big men in Thomas Kithier, Malik Hall, Marcus Bingham Jr. and true freshmen Julius Marble try to slow down Garza on the defensive end. For the most part, they were unsuccessful in stopping Garza score in the first half and the Hawkeyes only had a – point lead heading into the 2nd half.

At the beginning of the 2nd half, Iowa had their biggest lead of the game going up by double digits behind the play of Garza, Ryan Kriener, and Connor McCaffery. However, the momentum of the game swung in Michigan State’s favor later on in the 2nd half. Besides Tillman’s excellent defense on Garza in the 2nd half which greatly helped the Spartans defeat Iowa, let’s take a look at the three keys to victory in Michigan State’s eight-point home victory over the No. 18 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes.