Michigan State Rallies Past Iowa 75-61
By LUKE MEREDITH/AP Sports Writer
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Travis Trice scored 25 points and hit seven 3-pointers and Michigan State rallied to pound Iowa 75-61 on Thursday night, its ninth straight win over the Hawkeyes.
Branden Dawson had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Spartans (11-5, 2-1 Big Ten), who came back from an 11-point halftime deficit to post one of their biggest wins of the season.
Michigan State opened the second half on a 25-9 run and never looked back. The Trice-led Spartans were 8 of 9 from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes.
Gabe Olaseni tied a career high with 18 points for the Hawkeyes (11-5, 2-1), who were outscored 47-22 in the second half.
Iowa has had a habit of blowing games - most notably against Texas and Iowa State - with awful starts after the break.
The Hawkeyes feel asleep in that spot yet again on Thursday.
Michigan State went on a 13-2 run and later jumped ahead 53-48 on back-to-back 3s by Trice with just over 10 minutes left. The Iowa crowd groaned as Tum Tum Nairn Jr. found a wide-open Trice in the corner, and he buried his fourth 3 in 12 minutes to put Michigan State ahead 58-51.
Denzel Valentine had 18 points for the Spartans.
Michigan State took control of things early on, making it seem like the Hawkeyes were destined for yet another loss to the Spartans.
The surging Olaseni helped bring Iowa back.
Olaseni tied it up at 20-all on a bank shot, then jogged to half court with his arms extended and a huge smile on his face as the crowd roared its approval. That helped fuel a 27-10 run to close the half, which Iowa closed out by hitting two free throws following a technical on Spartans coach Tom Izzo.
The fun wouldn't last for the Hawkeyes, who suffered their fourth double-digit loss of the year.
TIPS-INS
Iowa: Iowa's last win against Michigan State came on Feb. 2, 2011. The Hawkeyes stunned the Spartans 72-52 in what was one of the few highlights of coach Todd Lickliter's brief tenure.
Michigan State: The Spartans were so hot from 3-point range that Aaron White blocked a try by Denzel Valentine - who then corralled the ball, reset his feet and drilled it to put Michigan State ahead 67-55.
UP NEXT
Iowa plays at Minnesota on Tuesday.
Michigan State hosts Northwestern on Sunday.
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