Well, hot damn, Hawkeyes.
Iowa jumped out to a huge lead early and never looked back, drilling the visiting Michigan State Spartans 86-60. Unsurprisingly, Keegan Murray led the team in scoring again with 28 on 10-15 shooting, all as announcers Jason Benetti and Robbie Hummel made the heart eyes emoji at his gameplay for all 40 minutes.
The vibes at Carver-Hawkeye were immaculate before the opening tip and all the way through, as the team honored Luka Garza and other Hawkeye legends before the game by hanging their jerseys in the rafters.
An incredible moment for an incredible player.
— Iowa Mens Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 23, 2022
, . !@LukaG_55 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/69nBtmSCxc
It's fitting, then, that Iowa honored the last time Luka played against Sparty — an 88-58 dismantling in East Lansing — by once again controlling the game early and fully. Not only did Iowa carry a lead for the last 37:47 of the game, but the Hawkeyes kept a double-digit advantage for nearly the last 30 minutes of play.
The key for the Hawkeyes on Tuesday was clutch shooting — a strange proclamation for a team that, again, stayed up by double digits for the vast majority of the game, but it's true. Michigan State was never able to put a run together while its shots were still falling, because Iowa always had an answer, usually from the perimeter. Iowa shot 12-28 from deep for the game, a healthy 42%, and that's even with five garbage-time misses to finish the game.
And then, of course, Michigan State's jumpers stopped falling. Sparty suffered a 1-for-15 shooting stretch during the second half — just one of those attempts a layup, which was summarily blocked by Patrick McCaffery. Disinterest painted the faces and body language of the visiting Spartans by that point, as Iowa's lead ballooned as high as 32 and the Carver-Hawkeye mood turned celebratory.
Just marinate on that for as long as you need. Iowa didn't just beat the Spartans, the Hawkeyes demoralized them.
As for tournament jockeying, today's win was obviously welcome and it'll bolster the Hawkeyes' resume. It might not help as much as one would expect, though; MSU came into the game with a NET rating of 29, and the standard for a "Quad 1" win at home is against a top-30 team. So a loss would have been a(nother) Quad 1 loss, a tight win and maybe MSU doesn't move down more than a spot. Alas, Iowa chose the whipping stick tonight, instead of thinking of the quadrants. Won't someone think of the quadrants?!?!
In seriousness, this is a great win for the program. Keegan Murray only bolstered his case for the John Wooden Award, Kris Murray and Jordan Bohannon helped control momentum by hitting massive three-pointers, and the knock on Iowa lacking quality wins is even further in the rearview mirror. Not bad for a team playing its third game in six days.
Tom Izzo on Keegan Murray: He was unbelievable, one of the best players Ive seen in this league in some time.
— Kennington Lloyd Smith III (@SkinnyKenny_) February 23, 2022
He also said that he believes the Big Ten Player of the Year and Coach of the Year could reside in Iowa.
Savor this win, Hawkeye fans — it's not every day Iowa gets to embarrass a Big Ten opponent live on ESPN. It's great to see the team turn potential into results, especially now when it matters the most. The Hawkeyes climb to 19-8 (9-7) on the season, and a winning record in the Big Ten is firmly in their sights now.
Oh, and someone please go get Izzo out of the trash can that Fran stuffed him into. Please. He's very short and the waste receptacles at Carver are very big.
Go Iowa Awesome.
