Hawks dominate Spartans in all areas of a 72-52 rout

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

Then an 8-minute lapse would snowball into a double-digit loss.

Last night 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.

Junior Matt Gatens, an Iowa City native, became the 40th player Hawkeye to score 1,000 career points. He scored 19 to reach 1,002.

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 next six scoring possessions as five players - 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.

Read more from Scott Dochterman and comment on his blog

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Photos by Cliff Jette

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