Michigan State basketball unleashes monster comeback to lock up outright Big Ten title
IOWA CITY, Iowa — This time, it was Michigan State basketball’s turn to make a dramatic recovery at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
In a season filled with them, it almost felt fitting that another comeback cemented the Spartans as the outright Big Ten champions.
Iowa built a 14-point lead and looked in command early in the second half, until No. 7 MSU used its depth to erupt for a 33-6 run to reclaim the lead and rally to a 91-84 victory Thursday night.
For the ninth time in 10 games, the Spartans trailed at halftime, with another rally securing Tom Izzo’s fifth outright conference crown and first since 2018. The Spartans came back to win six of those nine games, as well as beating Purdue after being up by merely two points at the half.
The Spartans (25-5, 16-3) had previously earned a share of the Big Ten regular-season title Wednesday night when No. 15 U-M lost at home to No. 14 Maryland. MSU hosts the Wolverines at noon Sunday (CBS), a rematch of the Spartans’ 75-62 win Feb. 21 in Ann Arbor.
But that game will be meaningless beyond the rivalry and for NCAA tournament seeding. The Spartans locked up the No. 1 seed to next week’s Big Ten tournament and will open play at noon next Friday in Indianapolis.
Jase Richardson scored 22 points, while Jaden Akins had 13 of his 15 points in the second half. Jaxon Kohler and Jeremy Fears Jr. each had 15 points, while Tre Holloman scored 11.
Iowa (15-15, 6-13), which had won five of the last six against MSU, must win its final game Sunday at Nebraska to earn the final spot in the now-15-team Big Ten tournament. Josh Dix had 18 points while Payton Sandfort and Seydou Traore each had 15 for the Hawkeyes.
In his 30th season, Izzo tied Indiana’s Bob Knight and Purdue’s Ward “Piggy” Lambert — with Knight mostly and Lambert entirely predating the league’s postseason tournament that began in 1998 — for the most in Big Ten history. The 70-year-old Izzo earlier this season passed Knight for the most conference victories and now has 358.
However, this was just his fifth time as the sole champion. Izzo’s first two Final Four teams in 1999 and the 2000 national title team won outright league titles, as did the 2009 team that finished NCAA runner-up. The Spartans’ last outright Big Ten crown came in 2018, when they lost in the second round to Syracuse.
And Thursday’s comeback atoned for one of the biggest meltdowns in his career.
The last time MSU played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 25, 2023, the Spartans blew a 13-point lead in the final 1:34 as Iowa forced overtime with six 3-pointers down the stretch en route to a 112-106 victory. It was just the fourth time in Division I history that a team lost when leading by 11 points with 55 seconds to play in regulation.
Not this time. Izzo and Co. knew the history and were hellbent on not allowing it to repeat itself.
The stands were barely half full, even with it being Iowa’s senior night. Perhaps that inspired the Hawkeyes.
MSU quickly found itself trailing by double digits for the sixth time this winter in Big Ten play.
After opening the first four minutes of the game with an 11-5 burst, including five points from Fears and four from Kohler, the Spartans’ offense looked stagnant and staggered. Their halfcourt offense was a mess when Iowa played zone. Their halfcourt defense proved equally as costly, with the Hawkeyes penetrating the paint at will for layups and kickout passes for 3-pointers.
Iowa went on a 22-3 surge that included 14 straight points, with interior penetration providing shots both inside and out. A dunk by Even Brauns and a layup by Treore forced Izzo to call timeout with 9:04 left in the first half and MSU staring at a 27-13 deficit amid nearly four minutes without a basket.
The Spartans chipped away, though the Hawkeyes maintained a 37-30 lead at half and quickly pushed it back to double digits after halftime.
But MSU continued to show the resolve it has all season, and as it did in recent wins after facing halftime deficits against Oregon (14), Illinois (4), U-M (4), Maryland (2) and Wisconsin (2).
Iowa led, 58-48, after a pair of Payton Sandfort free throws with 12:13 left. But Akins converted a layup through a foul, Richardson buried two free throws, then Akins drained a 3-pointer. It was a one-possession game.
Then Coen Carr took flight. He flipped his defensive rebound to Fears for a fastbreak and ran the court, elevating for a lob at the other end and a dunk that pulled the Spartans within a point. The sophomore delivered a block and an offensive board shortly after that, finishing with another flush off a lob from Richardson. MSU had its first lead since the score was 11-10.
Carr finished with eight points, five rebounds and four blocks.
The Spartans shot 68% in the second half and, despite having some issues at the free-throw line, finished it off late as the Hawkeyes kept hanging around, cutting a 17-point MSU lead after the big surge back to single digits in the final two minutes.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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Big accomplishments
Ugly open
Furious finish
Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s 91-84 win at Iowa, capturing an outright Big Ten championship
IOWA CITY, Iowa — If the Spartans had played the start of this game with the fire they showed when things got testy in the second half, they probably would have beaten Iowa comfortably Thursday night.
But what fun would that be?
A Michigan State team that has become known for its second halves and how it closes games took it to the extreme Thursday night — riding a 33-6 second-half run to a 91-84 win to clinch the outright Big Ten championship it had been marching toward for nearly three weeks.
When Iowa went up 58-48 and Tre Holloman was called for a phantom foul on a block at the basket, an MSU team already beginning to come to life found its edge, just as it appeared the Spartans were losing their poise.
Something needed to rile up this group after an uninspiring first half.
The beauty of a Big Ten title is that it’s a championship earned through a three-month, 20-game grind. Not all halves have to be inspiring — though parts of that second half from MSU certainly were.
And so MSU is the outright Big Ten champion, winning its first title in five seasons, 11 months after its coach said he’d either do this or die trying.
He’s alive. So is MSU’s team and program. What a season.
Part of being a legitimate star in college basketball is being the one guy who’s still able to get buckets when nothing else is going right — to the point your team is able to hang around.
The knee Jase Richardson took to the groin a couple minutes before halftime pretty much summed up the Spartans’ entire first half. If not for his scoring and smooth and persistent offensive game, MSU might have been out of this thing by the break, or at least in real trouble — I don’t know if MSU is ever out of a game in the second half.
Instead it was a manageable 37-30 at halftime, because Richardson had 12 points after hitting 5 of 8 shots. This is a guy who didn’t take more than eight shots in an entire game until Jan. 25 against Rutgers, when he took nine. He didn’t start taking double-digit shots until that 29-point outburst against Oregon.
It’s not just Richardson’s recognition that he’s become what drives MSU’s offense, that he’s the reason this team is a challenge to defend, and that MSU’s late-season run has correlated with his emergence on another level. It’s his consistency in providing that new level late in his freshman season.
That continued into the second half Thursday, with Richardson’s leaning baseline bank shot while being fouled, cutting the deficit to 51-46, another bucket that came before MSU had found anything else consistent against Iowa’s zone defense.
When MSU finally took the lead — on two alley-oop dunks by Coen Carr, one on on a pass by Richardson — the next possession was his. This wasn’t waiting for the game to come to him. This was him taking it to the game, drawing a foul on the drive. You could tell from the moment he got the ball near the top of the key, he was taking the shot on that possession, an important possession amid an 18-2 run.
Richardson finished with 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting, with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
This won’t be remembered as a signature game of his season — like the Oregon or Michigan games — but MSU is the outright Big Ten champion today because Richardson became a legitimate and reliable go-to guy,
A couple weeks ago, it looked like MSU’s whole world might be on the line Sunday when Michigan visits Breslin Center. Now, it’s about avoiding a thud and finishing with a bang.
For the Spartans, the Big Ten title is theirs and can’t be shared. But losing a home finale on senior night to Michigan — before raising a banner … that would put an all-time damper on this incredible ride.
On the other hand, beating the Wolverines to win a seventh straight game — and win the Big Ten by three full games, while honoring your seniors and raising a banner … that’s a pretty good celebration.
MSU has to treat the game like everything is on the line. We’ve seen how these Spartans hadn’t in games that were supposed to be coronations — the Indiana game, when Izzo was all set to break Bob Knight’s Big Ten wins record, the first half of Thursday’s game, as well.
This season deserves to be capped the right way.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
1. Testy second half riles up MSU in time to win outright Big Ten title
2. Another ode to Jase Richardson
3. A finale against Michigan that still means a lot
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This pick comes down to Michigan State’s dominance on the defensive end of the court. Tom Izzo’s squad has held five straight opponents under 70 points, and the Spartans rank second in the Big Ten in points allowed per game. I see this ending up being a 75-70 type of game.
The Hawkeyes are in the process of missing out on the Big Ten Tourney, which begs if the clock is ticking on HC Fran McCaffery. The softness of the Hawkeyes is reflected in season-long defensive numbers bordering on abysmal. To confront that, McCaffery has attempted to slow the pace in recent games, but to no avail; Illinois and Northwestern have just scored convincing double-digit wins, while Iowa has scored only 59 pg in the process. Meanwhile, Tom Izzo can wrap up the Big Ten reg-season crown with another win tonight. The pistons are all firing lately for the Spartans, who have been getting an extra spark from frosh G Jase Richardson, on a stretch of seven straight games scoring in double digits. Play Michigan State
Stunned in the best possible way at Sparty this season as they have clinched at worse a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. Tom Izzo’s crew has won five straight, four of those over ranked teams and the other at formerly ranked Illinois. This seems like a mega-trap to me in their final road game and ahead of hosting Michigan in the RS finale on Sunday. It’s the home finale for Iowa and maybe the last game in that gym for Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffrey. Just a lot of weird intangibles that hint at a close game. Seems like MSU never plays well in Iowa City.
The key to Michigan State’s late season form has been its defense, which has excelled in slowing down some of the best offenses in the Big Ten during this five-game winning streak. It’s also contributed to noticeably lower totals overall. Michigan State games went over 150 in nine of the Spartans first 19 games, but that feat has only been accomplished once in the last 10 games. That’s part of the reason the under is 6-12 in Michigan State’s conference games and why even Iowa’s defensive shortcomings might keep this total from going over.
Sparty is under in 14 of last 18 games and 10 of 11. They are under in 6 straight games by: 13.5, 37, 13.5, 7.5, 14.5, 10.5. Those 6 games have averaged 136 points. Sparty average 71/G in that span and allow just 66 in conference. Iowa can shoot, especially at home, but Izzo’s defense is in top form. Will take away deep ball and rotate four 7-footers. Iowa under in 5 of last 7 at home. Those games averaged 152. Four of those games went under by 11.5 or more. Pace shouldn’t be a problem for us. Iowa D stinks but Sparty doesn’t shoot from 3.
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| OPPONENT | W/L | ATS | ML | O/U |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WISC03/03/2025 | 62-71WIN | -4.5WIN | -199WIN | 146.5UNDER |
| @MD02/27/2025 | 58-55WIN | +3.5WIN | +154WIN | 150UNDER |
| @MICH02/22/2025 | 75-62WIN | +3.5WIN | +130WIN | 150.5UNDER |
| PURDUE02/19/2025 | 66-75WIN | -3.5WIN | -166WIN | 148.5UNDER |
| @ILL02/16/2025 | 79-65WIN | +6.5WIN | +231WIN | 158.5UNDER |
