Iowa Loses 95-61 On Road To No. 6 Michigan State
LARRY LAGE,AP Sports Writer
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was equally mad at officials and his players when he was called for a technical and spiked a chair in front of his huddle during a timeout tirade.
It didn't help the Hawkeyes on Tuesday night at Michigan State.
Draymond Green had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help the sixth-ranked Spartans beat Iowa 95-61 for their 15th straight win.
The Hawkeyes (10-8, 2-3) have been routed in two straight games — they also lost to Ohio State, by 29 points — after beating Wisconsin and Minnesota on the road.
Michigan State went on a 16-0 run late in the first half and had a 14-0 spurt midway through the second.
During the second burst, McCaffery was called for a technical for berating an official before directing his anger toward his players, slamming a chair in the team's huddle and screaming in his players' faces.
What was his message?
"I wanted them to get the defenders off them," McCaffery said. "Couldn't you hear me? I yelled out loud enough."
Melsahn Basabe said he didn't blame his coach for spiking the chair perhaps a foot away from his seated players.
"I would've done that, too, if I'd been watching what he had to watch," Basabe said. "It was unacceptable."
The Spartans had a chance for their second-largest margin of victory over a Big Ten team, trailing only its 51-point win over Michigan during their 2000 championship season, but their reserves couldn't maintain a 40-plus lead.
Iowa reserve Aaron White scored 15 points, Devyn Marble had 12, Matt Gatens 11 points and Basabe 10 for Iowa, which had started 2-0 on the road in the Big Ten for the first time since the 2000-01.
"They did not play as well as I've seen them play," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "Fran has done a great job with this team, but tonight wasn't their night."
The Spartans took control soon after the tip, going on an 8-0 run to take a 10-2 lead, and later turned it into a rout.
"We came out extremely slow and I was one of the biggest culprits," Basabe said. "That was one of the softest games I've ever played in my life."
Michigan State made nearly 60 percent of its shots during a first half in which it led 46-24 and had nine players make at least a shot. Brandon Wood had 10 points of his 12 points in the first half.
"We played about as well as we could play in the first half," Izzo said. "Everything went right for us and wrong for them."
Michigan State didn't give the Hawkeyes any comeback hopes in the second half after they pulled within 18 points. The Spartans' second big run of the game gave them a 73-41 cushion and they cruised from there for their 17th straight win over Iowa at the Breslin Center dating to 1993.
"The key for us here would've been to get off to a better start," McCaffery said.
