Iowa men’s basketball drops first game of the season in Big Ten opener at No. 7 Michigan State

Iowa men’s basketball (7-1, 0-1 Big Ten) suffered its first loss of the season in its conference home opener at No. 7 Michigan State (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten), 71-52.

The Hawkeyes drop to 6-1 overall, and head coach Ben McCollum suffered his first loss against a Big Ten program in his career.

Despite an early tie at the first media timeout, Michigan State held Iowa to two scoring droughts in the first half — one over six minutes in length and the other spanning nearly another four minutes. Hawkeye guard Bennett Stirtz was held to just four points in the first half, including 1-for-4 from the free throw line.

Iowa was out-rebounded by Michigan State, 37-18, including the Spartans’ 13 offensive boards to the Hawkeyes’ six.

Stirtz scored just 14 points against the Spartans, making just two triples in a season-low. He was the only Hawkeye who reached double figures Tuesday night.

Michigan State’s guard Jeremy Fears led the game with 10 points in the first half, making eight free throws. He finished the game with 14 points and six assists, despite playing with three fouls through the second half.

Fears, forward Jaxon Kohler and forward Coen Carr scored a combined 41 points — Carr led the way with 15 points while Kohler recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Michigan State expanded the lead to 20 points in the first five minutes of the second half, shooting 50-percent from the floor and 25-percent from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes not only were shooting just 36-percent from field goal range, but were 65-percent from the free throw line.

The game remained within 20 points until the final buzzer in East Lansing rang out. The Hawkeyes host Maryland on Saturday at 3 p.m.

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