Spartans Stand Alone atop the Big Ten, Wins Road Finale

**Hawkeye Carver Arena- Iowa City, IA**

Iowa has been a pain in Coach Izzo and MSU’s side over recent years. Vindication of the late lead in their last meeting, was what the squad was hoping and focused on achieving, in route to clinching the outright Big Ten Championship. The Hawkeyes came out firing on Senior Night, looking to notch a signature win for any chance at an NCAA tournament berth that may now rely on just winning the conference tournament next week after being squashed in the second half, falling to MS 91-84.

Keep finding a way to win. pic.twitter.com/4mgyrwbfgf

— Michigan State Men’s Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) March 7, 2025

In typical fashion of late, MSU got out to a quick start and lead, the opponent came storming back this time in a 20-2 run by Iowa, to be down at half (7-point deficit). Coach Izzo and his staff made more adjustments at the break and pummeled the Hawkeyes, dropping 61 second-half points and a +15-scoring margin in it.

MSU was led again by growing phenom Jase Richardson who buoyed the offense in the first half, finishing with 22 points (7-13 FG, 2-6 3-pt, 6-9 FTs), 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal/turnover while logging a team-high 33 minutes. Jaxon Kohler arrived in spades in the second half, totaling 15 points (5-7 FG, 5-5 FTs), 5 rebounds 1 steal/assist and 0 turnovers in 24 minutes. Jeremy Fears Jr was more aggressive and appeared confident, chipping in 14 points (4-6 FG, 1-2 3-pt, 5-7 FTs) with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and only 1 turnover in 20 minutes. Jaden Akins had another subpar night but did finish with 15 points (6-14 FGs, 3-10 3-pt), 2 boards, 4 assists and 1 steal in 32 minutes. Reserve players Tre Holloman had 11 points (4-9 FG, 3-7 3-pt) and 4 assists in 28 minutes while Coen Carr had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 massive blocks in 23 minutes.

The Spartans had to find other ways in the second half as they struggled for the third game in their recent stretch at the FT line (66.7%) and had no edge rebounding or points in the paint (42-40). They were able to convert 10 Iowa turnovers into 20 points which was very impressive compared to Iowa scoring only 11 on 8 MSU turnovers. Yet again, they won the foul attrition rate by 10 after putting Iowa in the bonus, early in the first half. During their second half dominance, the Hawkeye turnovers came in spades and MS made them pay for it, erasing a 14-point deficit and 2, 11-point deficits in the second half, growing their lead to as large as 17 at one point. Coen Carr got out in space, Tre Holloman pushed the transition and it paid dividends to the rest of the team.

Szymon Zapala and Xavier Booker were really the only major disappointments, and those pair have been on two different paths. Zapala has had foul issues or ineffectiveness over the last 2-3 weeks and his 7 minutes logged as a STARTER, is his lowest since USC. He just hasn’t been effective and doesn’t take more than 1-2 shots a game but took zero in Iowa City. Booker on the other hand, is regressing into a shell of a player from his senior year of high school. His FT rate has dropped by a whopping 18% (81.5% to 63.2%) along with his 3-point percentage by 9% (33.3% to 24.3%). Despite that, his biggest regression is his inability to play defense. This…has been painful to Spartan fans to watch as he misses defensive assignments, doesn’t move laterally well off-ball or in help-side, struggles to box out and gives up an abundance of offensive rebounds. If you can’t score, don’t have driving ability to create and net a -11 in 5 minutes of playing time…you just don’t play and his recent 5 game stretch shows it not having logged 10+ minutes in more than one game (Maryland). His totals the last 5 games: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 4 fouls and 2 turnovers in 37 total minutes played. Hardly sounds like a consensus 5-star recruit, McDonalds All American ranked #4 in his entire class, right? As we noted earlier, its put-up or shut-up time and Booker is riding the pine in March. They will need either him or Zapala in the next few weeks to soften the minutes of Carson Cooper, Coen Carr and Jaxon Kohler and avoid critical foul issues in their front court. We can only hope a spark is on the horizon for them.

All-in-all, Michigan’s loss the night before combined with the win means MSU will be out for blood Sunday on Senior Night against Michigan. Can’t help but notice how little UofM fans showed up for their senior night despite the highly successful first year for Head Coach Dusty May and assuredly a top 3 finish and lock for NCAA tournament. Spring Break or not, The Breslin Center will be rocking for their final home tilt, before MSU takes on March Madness.

TEAM STATS:

Spartans: 31-61 FG (50.8%), 9-27, 3-PT (33.3%), 20-30 FT (66.7%)

Hawkeyes: 30-63 FG (47.6%), 9-23, 3-PT (39.1%), 15-18 FT (83.3%)

Record/Rankings & More:

25-5 (16-3, 1st-Big Ten) Rankings: #8 AP / #7 Coaches Poll
Updated KenPom- Off: 30th / Def: 5th. Adjusted Tempo: 162nd. SOS Net Rtg: 33rd +12.63

Updated Bart Torvik- ADJOE: 39th/ADJDE: 7th / EFF.FGD%: 46.0 (14th) / ORBD %: 35.9 (22nd) & DRBD %: 25.0 (11th)

Other Metrics: KPI (6th), ESPN SoR (7th), ESPN BPI (12th), T-Rank: 16th — #15 in FT % (78.7%), #16 in FTM/game (17.4)/ #41 in FTA/game (22.1)

FULL KenPom Stats: https://kenpom.com/index.php

FULL Bart Torvik Stats: https://barttorvik.com/#

FULL T-Rank Stats: https://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2025/net-teamsheets-plus#google_vignette