How to Watch Michigan State at Iowa - TV, Quick Facts and Prediction

Michigan State Men’s Basketball team travels to Carver-Hawkeye arena, to take on the Hawkeyes.

The Hawkeyes are a half a game behind the Spartans for 7th place in the Big Ten. This game has huge implications for both squads hopes for the NCAA Tournament.

Game Time: Saturday, February 25, at 12noon (US East Coast Time)

Watch the game: ESPN

Comment and Follow Live at the GAME THREAD HERE (live at 10am)

Some basics to sound like a pro:

Michigan State:

Michigan State’s season has become overshadowed by the tragedy of the mass shooting that killed three students and wounded five more on their campus almost two weeks ago. Michigan State postponed its first game after the shooting (against Minnesota), and played emotional games at Michigan and at home against Indiana.

The Spartans lost a winnable game against Michigan. Their most recent game was a dominant performance over #17 Indiana.

Michigan State is still figuring out its rotation and approach at the center spot. Against Michigan the lack of clarity of lineups and middling to poor performance by all the centers cost them the win. Against Indiana it was the opposite, the center play of both Mady Sissoko and Jaxon Kohler helped fuel the upset.

Even more encouraging than the improved center play against Indiana, was Michigan State’s overall offensive output. The last two games were the only times Michigan State has scored more than 70 points in Big Ten Play.

If MSU can keep scoring, and turn their superb defensive pressure on against Iowa, they could help secure their place in the top half of the Big Ten.

The University of Iowa:

The story of the Iowa Hawkeyes is offense. This is a program consistent approach, find enough points to offset a poor defensive approach. This year it’s an even more stark difference. Iowa leads the Big Ten in offense, scoring 77.14 points per game, and is 14th in the league in defense at 76.06 points per game.

Iowa is even tougher on their homecourt, averaging 88.1 points per game on 50.4% shooting, and 41.6% from three.

The Hawkeyes are led by Junior forward Kris Murray. Murray scores 20 points a game and grabs 8 rebounds a game. Murray is helped by long time Spartan adversary Connor McCaffery, who leads the team with 3.5 assists.

Against the Spartans, Iowa will need to find a way to shoot against the best 3-point defense in the league. If they can keep shooting and find a way to play slightly better defense than normal, this could be a very difficult game for the Spartans.

Predictions:

BBD: 74-65 MSU Win

What are your predictions for the game? Let everyone know in the comments below.