Michigan State Basketball beat Iowa at home, 78-70. Michigan State put out a starting lineup of Cassius Winston, Rocket Watts, Aaron Henry, Marcus Bingham Jr., and Xavier Tillman. This was a physical matchup between two of the better Big Ten basketball teams. Rocket Watts and Cassius Winston led MSU in scoring with 21 and 20 points respectively.
Here is a recap of this game:
First Half
MSU started strong out of the gate with two defensive stops on Iowa Center Luka Garza. Both teams exchanged buckets in the first two minutes of this game. Rocket Watts hit a floater nearly three minutes into this game, tying up the score 7-7. Note, MSU turned the ball over three times in the first four minutes of this game. Meanwhile, Luka Garza was 0/4 from the floor.
Xavier Tillman picked up his second foul five minutes into the game, not good. Malik Hall scored on back-to-back possessions, keeping the score close. MSU moved the ball around well, finding Aaron Henry wide open for three. Iowa answered back with a bucket of their own. The Hawkeyes led the Spartans 18-14 halfway through the first half.
Michigan State played excellent defense for the next two minutes. Then, Winston found Kithier on an alley-oop layup. The Spartans went on a 7-0 run to take a 21-20 lead with 6:30 left in the first half. Michigan State then missed its next five shots. Meanwhile, Iowa pushed its lead to 31-25.
Iowa closed out the half with a lead of 33-27.
Second Half
Michigan State used its starting lineup at the beginning of the second half. This resulted in an immediate Cassius Winston three-pointer. Iowa extended the lead to seven points the largest lead of the game. Then, Ryan Kriener hit a three-pointer and Iowa led by 10.
The Spartans struggled against Luka Garza as do most teams. Rocket Watts hit a clutch three then Xavier Tillman netted a free throw. Cassius Winston then scored on a ridiculous, fade away corner three. This cut the deficit to only two points. Luka Garza was fouled down low and converted the and-one opportunity. MSU down 46-41 with 15 minutes left in the game.
Rocket Watts turned the ball over and left a three-point shooter wide open for three. Iowa now leading by eight points. Cassius Winston scored on three consecutive plays, including two three-pointers and a layup. A few plays later, Henry hit a mid-range jumper to tie the game, 51-51.
Winston found Tillman down low for an easy bucket. Thus, MSU enjoyed its first lead of the game since the close of the first half. Both teams traded buckets back and forth for the next five minutes. Aaron Henry hit two free throws with four minutes remaining to push MSU ahead 63-61.
Winston Vision isn't fair. 👁️👁️
Dime time for @cassiuswinston, and @MSU_Basketball re-takes the lead: pic.twitter.com/1OKbV7FBKx
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 26, 2020
Rocket Watts hit another clutch three-pointer but Iowa answered back. Henry scored down near the rim, putting MSU ahead 68-64. Then, Xavier Tillman stole the ball on a critical play. Rocket Watts scored on a fast break play. Xavier Tillman continued his stellar defense on Garza with another critical stop.
Cassius Winston hit both free throws. MSU now ahead 72-64 with one minute remaining in the game.
The Spartans closed out this game with more free throws, enjoying a 78-70 comeback victory at the Breslin Center.
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