Iowa @ Michigan St. preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 24, 2019 ) Michigan St 82, Iowa 67

Two of the teams tied for second place in the Big Ten square off Tuesday night when No. 17 Iowa visits No. 24 Michigan State. The Hawkeyes and Spartans are both sitting at 10-6 and two games behind first-place Maryland, with Iowa coming off a victory over No. 23 Ohio State last Thursday while Michigan State earned a road win over Nebraska the same night.

Iowa features one of the best scoring big men in the country in 6-11 junior Luka Garza, who paces the Big Ten with 23.7 points per game along with averages of 9.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. Sophomore swingman Joe Wieskamp is adding 14.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest for the Hawkeyes, helping to power the Big Ten's most potent offense at 78.5 points per game. Michigan State can put points on the board in a hurry as well, especially when senior guard Cassius Winston gets into the open court, scores on his own (18.3 points) or finds open teammates (5.7 assists). Junior forward Xavier Tillman (13.6 points, 10.3 rebounds) is coming off a double-double against Nebraska and will be counted on to help in the big-man rotation the Spartans will use to try to defend Garza.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT IOWA (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten): The Hawkeyes may have the top-scoring offense in the Big Ten, but they're facing a Michigan State team that leads the conference in field-goal percentage defense (37.5), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (28.7) and blocked shots (5.1). Coach Tom Izzo's squads always emphasis help defense, so the Hawkeyes are going to need to look for each other rather than try to create shots on their own. Iowa ranks second in assists per game in the Big Ten with 17.3, and the team's shooters will need to be ready to fire when they get open looks.

ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (18-9, 10-6): For Michigan State to live up to its preseason expectations, it needs to have the output from sophomore swingmen Gabe Brown and Aaron Henry that it got against Nebraska. Brown had a career-high 17 points in the win, hitting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, while Henry added 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists. The two shined in the Spartans' Sweet 16 victory over LSU last season, combining for 35 points in career games for both at the time, setting the expectation that they would do the same this season.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Garza has scored 20-plus points in 12 straight Big Ten games, the longest such streak in the conference over the last 20 years.

2. Michigan State F Kyle Ahrens had a season-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers, in the win over Nebraska after scoring a combined 13 points in the previous four games.

3. The Spartans have dominated the series since moving into the Breslin Center, holding a 22-3 advantage over the Hawkeyes in the buiding.

PREDICTION: Michigan State 77, Iowa 73