Tom Izzo thinks Big Ten Player and Coach of the Year “might reside in Iowa City”

IOWA CITY — Tom Izzo has won everything there is to win in college basketball and won a lot of things over and over. He’s coached some of the best players college basketball has featured in the last three decades.

Tuesday night, he saw Keegan Murray up close. Too close, as Murray scored 28 points in No. 25 Iowa’s 86-60 stuffing of Michigan State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“He was unbelievable,” Izzo said, “about as good as any player I’ve seen in this league in a while.

“They’ve got a star. He is a star. Don’t kid yourself. You’ve got something special. Enjoy him.”

The Carver-Hawkeye crowd of 14,634 didn’t need that advice. It savored Murray’s stylish, surgical attacking.

But it also took delight in the play of Murray’s brother, Kris Murray, who made three 3-pointers within a span of 2:12 in the second half. That was while the Brothers Murray were on their own 12-0 run against the Spartans (18-9 overall, 9-7 Big Ten) to build a 74-49 lead with 9:08 left.

“You talk about Players of the Year and then you start talking about Coach of the Year,” said Izzo, who has taken Michigan State to eight Final Fours. “They might reside in Iowa City.”

Iowa has gone from a team that had rebounding and shooting shortcomings in January to a February club that has become hyperaggressive. The Hawkeyes are 9-7 in the Big Ten, 19-8 total, and have made great strides from a month ago.

This win came after the Hawkeyes dropped nationally-ranked Ohio State 75-62 in Columbus last Saturday with rebounding and defense.

“I think our intensity the last two games has been really good,” Kris Murray said. “We’ve thrown the first punch every single time.”

"We knew they were going to be a physical team,“ said Keegan Murray, who averages 23.6 points. ”We just wanted to be the more-physical team. I felt like we did that.“

Iowa roared to a 14-4 lead, saw it cut to 14-11, then sped away. The Spartans were never closer than 10 points in the last 30 minutes.

Michigan State came in leading the Big Ten in 3-point field goal defense, but Iowa made 12 of 28. Jordan Bohannon sank two second-half bombs in the space of 28 seconds. Connor McCaffery drained a pair of first-half 3s that were 53 seconds apart.

All in all, it was a proper way for the current Hawkeyes to salute last year’s National Player of the Year, Luka Garza, after Garza had his No. 55 retired at halftime. And after former Hawkeye greats Chuck Darling, Roy Marble and Murray Wier had their jerseys retired before the game.

“I’m just really pleased that our fans showed up for that,” said the fellow Izzo touted as Coach of the Year material, Fran McCaffery. “Students came out, our fans came out.”

They came for the tribute. They stayed for the blowout.

“We’ve been pretty good,” McCaffery said. “We’ve won five out of six.”

It is the reverse image of a February fade.

“I think (it’s) our consistency on offense pushing the ball, moving the ball, sharing the ball, and our consistency defensively challenging on the glass,” McCaffery said.

It’s a lot of things. It starts with Keegan Murray, but has extended 10-deep in the lineup. Izzo raved about Iowa’s “sub guards,” presumably Joe Toussaint and Ahron Ulis, saying they might be the team’s real MVP for the way they push the ball upcourt.

"These guys are playing 10, 15 minutes,“ Izzo said. ”I’ve got to find out how (McCaffery) keeps them happy.“

“They’re happy,” McCaffery said. “I think everybody that is contributing to a team’s success should be happy. All those guys are doing amazing things.”

Next is a trip to Nebraska for a game Friday night. The Hawkeyes will be heavy favorites to become a 20-win team. In February.

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