After coming off a 79-66 win vs #25 Rutgers at home, Iowa hits the road. The challenge at stake is the Michigan State Spartans who are currently on a two game win streak, over some bottom feeders (Nebraska and Penn State). These two squared on of in Iowa City just over a week ago, with Iowa pulling out a 84-78 win at home. In that game, Sophomore Guard CJ Fredrick was very limited and only played 12 minutes and scoring just 2 points, expect him to play more today.

In this recent contest, Michigan State got out to a hot start. The Spartans were up as much as 11 and began the game from 6/6 from 3. Joe Toussaint came off the bench and created a huge spark for Iowa in this recent game, finished with 10 points and 6 assists in just 21 minutes. On the flipside for Michigan State, Junior Forward Aaron Henry had himself a game. Henry shot 10/16 from the field to go along with 26 points and 9 rebounds.

A major thing for Iowa to focus on in this game is defending the 3 point shot. This problem has gotten better for Iowa recently, as Rutgers shot 21% from deep against them. As stated before, this was an issue in the close win against Michigan State, as this was the main reason it was close for the majority of the game. If Iowa can continue some defensive momentum from recent contests, they should be able to pull out a victory on the road, in a place they haven’t won at since early 2016.

For the Spartans, they will need to defend the post which they struggled with in Iowa City, allowing Luka Garza to drop 27 points and Jack Nunge to put up 12. Even though the 3 ball wasn’t too much of a problem last time out, with a more complete return of CJ Fredrick they will need to defend it more. Fredrick can light it up from 3, shooting near 50%. Michigan State will obviously need to defend Jordan Bohannon and Joe Wieskamp because they can torch you if you give them the looks.

This game will take place on FOX at 1:30 PM today, with Gus Jackson and Jim Jackson on the call.