Iowa Hawkeyes down Michigan State, 86-60

IOWA CITY — Kenyon Murray is from Michigan. Tuesday night, Tom Izzo had to be wishing Murray had never stepped foot in Iowa, let alone played for the Hawkeyes and then sent his two sons there to do likewise.

Keegan and Kris Murray combined for 14 straight Iowa second-half points, with the last 12 coming without a Michigan State marker. It turned what was already a nice Iowa lead into a cushy 75-49 cushion on the way to an 86-60 win over the Izzo-coached Spartans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

No. 25 Iowa’s third-straight win over Michigan State in a 13-month period sent it to 9-7 in the Big Ten, 19-8 overall. Michigan State (9-7, 18-9) lost its third straight game.

Keegan Murray scored 28 points. Kris Murray hit three 3-pointers within 2:12 during that second-half Murray flurry and had 11 points. It was the second straight game he went from zero points at halftime to 11 by the conclusion.

Senior guard Jordan Bohannon made a pair of deep 3-pointers within a 28-second span in the second half, and scored 11 points.

Michigan State shot just 35.2 percent from the field to Iowa’s 43.8.

The Hawkeyes jetted to a 13-4 lead by the first media timeout, making 6 of 7 shots. It was indicative of what was to come.

The Spartans trimmed Iowa’s lead to 14-11, but Keegan Murray sank a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws within 1:03, and the Hawkeyes were ahead 22-13.

Their first-half lead reached 15 points on three occasions, and was 46-32 at the break behind Murray’s 18 points. Iowa made 50 percent of its shots in the half and had just three turnovers to MSU’s seven.

Connor McCaffery made two consecutive 3-pointers in the half for Iowa; non-starters scored 15 straight points for their team.

The Hawkeyes defeated Michigan State, 88-58, last Feb. 13 in East Lansing.

Iowa’s next game is Friday at 8:07 p.m. at last-place Nebraska.

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