Hawkeyes' last stand: Thursday vs. Michigan State

IOWA CITY -- As far as the Big Ten title race is concerned, this is Iowa's last stand.

Win, and the Hawkeyes are within two games of the lead. They're not yet in striking range, but they're back within shouting distance.

Lose, and the title dreams are toast. The Hawkeyes will be spending the final eight games of the regular season positioning for a high placement in the Big Ten, a decent seed in the NCAA tournament.

"This has become a very important game for us," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder.

League-leading Michigan State (18-2 overall, 6-1 Big Ten) invades Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday with an opportunity to shove No. 18 Iowa (15-5, 3-4) out of the picture.

Tipoff is 7 p.m.

"It is going to be tough to bounce back," Bluder said after the Hawkeyes suffered an 81-67 loss Monday at Ohio State. "We only have one day to prepare (because the Hawkeyes had to take a mandatory day off Tuesday). "It's going to be tough to have to come back and play.

"At least we have them at home."

The Spartans, now ranked 10th, defeated Iowa 63-60 on Jan. 13 at East Lansing. In that game, the Hawkeyes rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final 2 minutes before Kalisha Keane's 3-pointer at the buzzer won it for MSU.

Keane scored 16 points in that game and leads the Spartans at 15.9 points per game.

Iowa has four players averaging in double figures -- Jaime Printy (16.0 points per game), Kachine Alexander (13.5), Kamille Wahlin (12.2) and Morgan Johnson (11.6).

The Hawkeyes conclude a seven-day, three-game segment on Sunday at Illinois.

Big Ten standings

Conf.

All

Michigan State

6-1

18-2

Wisconsin

6-2

11-9

Penn State

5-2

16-5

Michigan

5-2

12-7

Ohio State

4-3

13-6

Purdue

4-4

13-7

Iowa

3-4

15-5

Northwestern

3-4

14-6

Illinois

2-5

7-13

Indiana

2-5

8-12

Minnesota

0-7

8-12