• What: Michigan State vs. Iowa
• When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
• Where: Breslin Center
• TV/Radio: Streaming on Peacock/Spartan Sports Network radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; SiriusXM Ch. 85 (MSU broadcast), Ch. 392 (Iowa broadcast).
• Records/Rankings: MSU is 7-0 and entered the week ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press and No. 12 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll. Iowa is 7-0 and unranked.
• Betting line: MSU -5.5
• Coaches: Michigan State — Tom Izzo is 743-302 in his 31st season as a head coach, all with the Spartans. Iowa — Ben McCollum is 431-95 in his 17th season as a head coach. This is his first season with the Hawkeyes. He went 31-4 last year in his lone season at Drake. Before that, he spent 15 seasons as the head coach at Division-II Northwest Missouri State, where he won four Division II national championships.
• Series: MSU leads 78-60 all-time. The Spartans won the only meeting last season, 91-84, on March 5 in Iowa City.
Projected lineups
MSU
C (15) Carson Cooper (6-11) 10.6
F (0) Jaxon Kohler (6-9) 14.6
F (55) Coen Carr (6-5) 10.7
G (2) Trey Fort (6-4) 6.6
PG (1) Jeremy Fears Jr. (6-2) 12.0
Iowa
C (3) Cam Manyawu (6-9) 7.6
PF (6) Tavion Banks (6-7) 9.3
SF (9) Cooper Koch (6-8) 8.9
SG (11) Kael Combs (6-4) 6.0
PG (14) Bennett Stirtz (6-4) 18.6
• MSU update: The Spartans are coming off a 74-58 win over North Carolina in Fort Myers, Florida, that was as impressive a win as they’ve had this season. MSU is now in the top five nationally in defensive efficiency, per Kenpom.com, and ninth in offensive rebounding percentage, hauling in nearly 42% of available offensive boards. Importantly, the Spartans’ 3-point shooting percentage has climbed to 34% after hitting 37 of 85 3s (44%) over their past four games, including 5 of 10 against North Carolina and 11 of 22 against Kentucky. MSU point guard Jeremy Fears leads the nation in assists at 9.7 per game. Power forward Jaxon Kohler is sixth in the Big Ten in rebounds at 9.7 per game. Fears and Kohler are also leading the way for the Spartans in 3-point shooting, at 47.1% and 46.2%, respectively.
MORE: Couch: It’s time to change how we think about Jeremy Fears Jr. and Michigan State’s basketball team
• Iowa update: The Hawkeyes’ 7-0 start includes a home win over Xavier and a neutral site win over Mississippi. Iowa might have struck gold with the hiring of head coach Ben McCollum from Drake and Division-II Northwest Missouri State before that. In terms of pedigree and bringing his roster with him, there are some similarities to Curt Cignetti with Indiana football. McCollum has won a ton at both stops, including 31 games in his only season at Drake and four Division II national championships at Northwest Missouri. He brought his culture with him by bringing four players who are starting for the Hawkeyes, led by guard Bennett Stirtz, who was at both previous stops with McCollum. Stirtz is on his way to being an All-Big Ten player and a household name league-wide.
• Matchup analysis: This is an unrecognizable Iowa program. The high-tempo, defense-optional days are over, replaced by McCullom’s more deliberate approach. The Hawkeyes rank 358th nationally in tempo and 354th in possession length, per Kenpom. This isn’t some slog offense, though. You’ll see movement and attention to detail, all of it running through Stirtz, who is comfortable creating for himself and teammates and will get the Hawkeyes (or himself) a ton of shots late in the clock. A lot of Stirtz’s two-man action is run with Cam Manyawu or Tavion Banks rolling to the basket. MSU’s big men have been pretty good in ball-screen defense. This will be a test of that.
This is a good shooting Iowa team — 38% from 3 and 63.2% on 2s. Stirtz, holdover from last year Cooper Koch and last season’s Horizon League player of the year, Alvaro Folgueiras, are all making between 46% and 48% of their 3-point shots, all at a decent volume. The Hawkeyes won’t want to let this become a track meet. Trying to inject some pace into this game will be a challenge for MSU.
MORE: Couch: Divine Ugochukwu showed signs Tuesday of being the player MSU basketball needs him to be. He needed it, too.
• Prediction: Iowa could finish in the top third of the Big Ten this season and is a real threat to anyone it faces — the 74-69 win over Ole Miss on Tuesday in Palm Springs, California, is a sign of that. Stirtz, who had 29 points in that game, is often the best player on the floor and a hard player to frustrate. But the Hawkeyes also haven’t played anyone as physically tough, defensively committed and disciplined offensively as MSU. Nor have they played a true road game. Breslin will be rocking, welcoming this MSU team back after beating North Carolina. The Spartans might need the crowd in this one.
• Make it: MSU 73, Iowa 67
MORE: Couch: Predicting Michigan State’s basketball season – Arkansas through Duke, the Big Ten and March Madness
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
