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Michigan State rallies past Iowa to claim first outright Big Ten championship since 2018

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Michigan State may have expected a championship coronation entering sleepy Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but coach Tom Izzo knew better.

The Spartans, having already locked up a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship, needed a road win over lowly Iowa to claim its first outright title since 2018. And that’s exactly what happened Thursday night, as the Spartans (25-5, 16-3 Big Ten) became outright Big Ten champions with a 91-84 win over the Hawkeyes.

The Hawkeyes (15-15, 6-13) had beaten the Spartans in five of their last six meetings entering Thursday, and Michigan State hadn’t won in Iowa City since 2019.

Iowa blazed to a 14-point lead in the first half on a 22-2 run, and it looked like Michigan State was running into an upset. But the Spartans did what they do best, especially after halftime. They defended, holding the Hawkeyes without a bucket for more than five minutes, and scored in bunches, putting up points on 17 of 18 possessions during a key second-half stretch.

Izzo, the winningest coach in Big Ten history, previously locked up a share of his Big Ten-record tying 11th title when Michigan lost to Maryland on Wednesday. But with a second-half rally against a program that had given him so many headaches in recent years, Izzo found the perfect way to clinch his fifth outright conference championship.

When the final seconds ticked away, Izzo walked with hands in his pockets toward embattled Iowa coach Fran McCaffery and shook his head before they embraced. They had faced one another annually from the 2010-11 season, and with McCaffery’s uncertain coaching status beyond this season, it’s undetermined whether they will face off again.

The victory was particularly sweet for Michigan State guard Jase Richardson, who scored a team-high 22 points and kept the Spartans in the game when the Hawkeyes appeared set for a rout.

Both Izzo and Richardson walked across the court and conducted television interviews while hundreds of Michigan State fans shouted, “Go Green, Go White.” Izzo raised his fist, took a fan selfie and walked to the locker room a winner. A champion once again.

Izzo, however, enjoyed the victory just long enough to collect his bag from his locker, walk to the team bus and take the 20-minute ride to the Eastern Iowa Airport.

“Am I happy we won the Big Ten? I’m ecstatic,” Izzo said. “I’ll be ecstatic when I walk out of this building, until I get to the plane and then the George Perles’ rule is out the door, because it’s Michigan week, so we start preparing for them right away.

“But I’m not going to sit here and sugar coat and tell you I’m excited how we played just because we won, because that’s not going to get anywhere I think we can go and need to go.”