Michigan St. @ Iowa preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 3, 2018 ) Iowa 68, Michigan St 90

Michigan State looks to extend its winning streak to 13 when it travels to face Iowa in a Big Ten matchup Thursday. The No. 5 Spartans have won a school-record 20 straight regular-season Big Ten contests and are coming off a 69-55 victory over No. 16 Maryland on Monday while the No. 21 Hawkeyes, winners of five in a row, routed Illinois 95-71 on Sunday.

Michigan State won the first matchup this season 90-68 in December with junior forward Nick Ward, who was shut out in the win over Maryland for the first time in his career, leading the way with a 10-for-10 shooting effort and 26 points. Junior guard Cassius Winston is the leader for coach Tom Izzo, pacing the Spartans in scoring (18 points) and assists (7.3), helping to fill the void of third-leading scorer Joshua Langford's absence with an ankle injury for the last six contests. The Hawkeyes' top two scorers, forwards Tyler Cook (16.5 points, 8.2 rebounds) and Luka Garza (13.9, 4.9), would like a little payback against the Spartans after they combined for 22 points, 17 rebounds and seven fouls compared to Ward and Kenny Goins' combined 45 points and 23 rebounds in the first matchup this season. That could depend on the outside shooting of Joe Wieskamp (11.9 points, 34 3-pointers) and Jordan Bohannon (11.2, 43) against the tough Michigan State defense, which held Iowa to 32.8 percent shooting in the first matchup.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (17-2, 8-0 Big Ten): Every good team needs a "glue guy," the player on the court who does all the little things, but Goins is becoming known for more than just those attributes as he has big game after big game. Iowa knows about that after the senior forward went for 19 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in the earlier meeting, and Goins is coming off a 14-point, 12-rebound, three-steal and two-block effort in a win over Maryland. Goins' feel for the Spartans' scheme on both ends of the floor gives Izzo yet another leader on the floor who makes plays, big and small, every contest.

ABOUT IOWA (16-3, 5-3): Wieskamp, a freshman, has caught fire lately, scoring in double figures in nine of the last 10 contests, making Iowa a much more dangerous team to Big Ten foes. The 6-6 guard was perfect against Illinois on Sunday in matching his career high of 24 points, hitting 8-of-8 from the field, including 6-of-6 from 3-point range, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. That kind of accuracy has helped open things up inside for Cook and Garza, as well as make defenders think twice about leaving him to cover Iowa's other shooters, giving coach Fran McCaffrey's team a little more balance than they had earlier in the season.

TIP-INS

1. Michigan State freshman F Aaron Henry scored a career-high 12 points in the win over Maryland.

2. Iowa ranked first in the country in free throws made (395) entering Wednesday.

3. The Spartans have dominated this series in recent years, winning 12 of the last 14 and 17 of the past 20.

PREDICTION: Michigan State 88, Iowa 80