Iowa crushes Michigan State; Gatens earns milestone

Iowa beat Michigan State 72-52 tonight at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa junior Matt Gatens, who scored a game-high 19 points, became the 40th player in Iowa history to score 1,000 in a career. he now has 1,002.

For a first-half account, read below.

The Iowa men's basketball team is ripping Michigan State 41-20 at halftime at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa (8-13, 1-8 Big Ten) took a 15-2 lead to start the game and scored on 10 straight possessions midway through the first half.

The Hawkeyes shot 65.5 percent from the floor. At one point Iowa had hit eight consecutive shots form the floor.

Iowa guard Matt Gatens leads all scorers with 12 points after hitting 5 of 7 shots and both 3-point attempts. Point guard Bryce Cartwright had eight assists and four points.

Michigan State point guard Kalin Lucas scored 10 points but had no assists. The Spartans (13-8, 5-4) sank just 24.1 percent of their shots.

Iowa has not beaten Michigan State since 2008.