No. 6 Michigan St. wins 15th straight
Michigan State is rolling with its longest winning streak since Tom Izzo coached in his first of six Final Fours.
Draymond Green had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help the sixth-ranked Spartans beat Iowa 95-61 on Tuesday night for their 15th straight win.
The victory gives Michigan State (15-2, 4-0 Big Ten) its longest win streak since the 1998-99 season, when they won 22 in a row before losing to Duke in the Final Four.
''It's been a special team already because they've done what we've asked them to do: defend and rebound,'' Izzo said. ''I keep feel like I'm downgrading us, but I feel like we still have so much to learn and that's why we were coaching to the end because we don't want to get casual.''
The Spartans had a chance for their second-largest margin of victory over a Big Ten team, trailing only its 51-point win over Michigan during their 2000 championship season, but their reserves couldn't maintain a 40-plus lead.
Michigan State, which improved to 11-0 at home this season, hasn't lost since opening the season with setbacks to North Carolina and Duke.
''We've gone from nothing to something,'' guard Keith Appling said. ''When we hung around against North Carolina and Duke, we made a commitment that we're not going to lose any more.''
The Hawkeyes (10-8, 2-3) have been routed in two straight games — they also lost to Ohio State by 29 points — after beating Wisconsin and Minnesota on the road.
Reserve Aaron White scored 15 points and Devyn Marble had 12 for Iowa.
Michigan State went on a 16-0 run late in the first half and had a 14-0 spurt midway through the second. During the second burst, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was called for a technical for berating an official. McCaffery then directed his anger toward his players, slamming a chair in their timeout huddle and screaming in their faces.
McCaffery said he was ''equally'' mad at the officials and his team.
What was his message to his players during his tirade?
''I wanted them to get the defenders off them,'' McCaffery said. ''Couldn't you hear me? I yelled out loud enough.''
Melsahn Basabe said he didn't blame his coach for spiking the chair before screaming at him and his teammates.
''I would've done that, too, if I'd been watching what he had to watch,'' Basabe said. ''It was unacceptable.''
Appling had 15 points and a career-high nine assists without a turnover, helping the Spartans pile up more assists (25) than Iowa had baskets on a 23-of-63 shooting night.
''We're a very unselfish team,'' Appling said. ''If we have the opportunity to make a pass, we're going to make it.''
Izzo sounded glad that he kicked Korie Lucious off the team last season, leading to him transferring to Iowa State and opening up more playing time for Appling.
''I wouldn't trade the guy I have for the guy I had in a million years,'' Izzo said. ''Nothing against Lucious, but he had his chance and didn't take advantage.''
The Spartans took control soon after the tip, going on an 8-0 run to take a 10-2 lead, and turned the game into a rout with 16 straight points to take a 46-22 lead.
They made nearly 60 percent of their shots in the first half and nine players made at least a shot. Brandon Wood had 10 points of his 12 points in the first half.
''We played about as well as we could play in the first half,'' Izzo said. ''Everything went right for us and wrong for them.''
Michigan State didn't give the Hawkeyes any comeback hopes in the second half after they pulled within 18 points. The Spartans' second big run of the game gave them a 73-41 cushion and they cruised from there for their 17th straight win over Iowa at the Breslin Center dating to 1993.
Reserves Derrick Nix and Travis Trice scored 10 points apiece for the Spartans, who made 62 percent of their shots and held Iowa to 37-percent shooting.
Matt Gatens scored 11 points and Basabe had 10 for Iowa, which had won its first two Big Ten road games for the first time since the 2000-01.