Iowa blisters Michigan State by 20

IOWA CITY - For portions of games this year - heck even this week - the Iowa men's basketball team competed with its Big Ten brethren to a standstill.

Then would come an 8-minute lapse that snowballed into a double-digit loss.

Wednesday against perennial Big Ten power Michigan State, there was no lapse. In fact, the Hawkeyes turned up the intensity to dizzying heights. In every facet Iowa rolled through the fading Spartans in a 72-52 destruction. It was the Hawkeyes' first win against Michigan State since 2008 and ended a five-game losing streak to the Spartans.

Iowa junior Matt Gatens, an Iowa City native, became 40th player in team history to score 1,000 points in a career. He scored 19 points Wednesday to reach 1,002 in his career.

For Gatens, who has had to endure multiple losing seasons, the win was more important than the milestone.

“It's a proud moment but now you have to move forward and keep this going,” Gatens said. “It's great to get it in a win like this where everybody's excited, especially one when everybody contributed.”

It was a whipping from the first possession. Iowa started on a 18-4 run that escalated from there. At one point Iowa scored on 10 consecutive possessions and hit eight straight shots.

As Michigan State (13-9, 5-5) was sloppily filling holes on defense, Iowa kept the ball moving. Gatens hit a jumper to put the Hawkeyes up 11-2. Eric May followed with a fadeaway jumper. Gatens then scored on the next two possessions - one a layup and the other a 3-pointer.

The Hawkeyes were more democratic in their six scoring possessions as five different players - and neither Gatens nor May - scored during that stretch. In the first half, the Hawkeyes shot 65.5 percent from the floor. They finished shooting 57.7 percent.

Michigan State did slice Iowa's lead with an 11-1 run midway through the second half, punctuated on a 3-pointer from Draymond Green. When Gatens missed his next shot, Michigan State's Keith Appling had an open shot but May blocked it and sent the ball back up the court. Iowa then went on a 8-0 run, highlighted by an open-court slam by May.

The statistics were startling. Iowa outscored Michigan State 30-13 in points off turnovers and 10-2 on fast breaks. Michigan State sank only 4-of-18 3-pointers, had 17 turnovers and hit just 24.1 percent of their shots in the first half.

Michigan State all-Big Ten point guard Kalin Lucas scored 17 points but didn't have an assist.

Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo, who has taken the Spartans to six Final Fours in the previous 12 seasons, was shocked with his team's effort from start to finish.

“I think that was the worst performance of a team that I've coached since I've been at Michigan State,” he said. “I didn't feel our best players played very well starting off and then tried to rely on other people.”

Izzo said he had no answers for the team's sluggish effort.

“This was the first time in quite a few years there was a total letdown, and I didn't see it coming.”