Perfect? Maybe not quite.
But No. 11 MSU was about as close as it could be on Saturday in its most lopsided win of the season, an 85-55 rout of No. 23 Iowa at Breslin Center.
"That was our best basketball game in maybe a couple years," head coach Tom Izzo said. "This was close to a perfect game."
The Spartans (15-4 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) had a mind-boggling 26 assists on their 30 baskets, while only turning the ball over 10 times.
Senior center Paul Davis, senior guard Maurice Ager and junior guard Shannon Brown — the only three teammates in the nation averaging 17 points a game each — combined to score 61.
Ager led the Spartans with 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Brown had 17 points and six assists, and Davis recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds, despite spraining his heel in practice Friday.
"When they're all three clicking like that, it's a hard group to beat," Iowa head coach Steve Alford said.
The Spartans also got a big spark from sophomore guard Drew Neitzel, who Izzo said earlier in the week was the Spartan with the biggest capacity to contribute more. Neitzel had 11 points and six assists.
"I put keys to the game on the board — there's usually six or seven keys," Izzo said. "Very seldom do I single out a player in those keys, but (today) I put 'Drew, we need you to look at the basket a little more, we need you to get shots off Mo and Shannon.'"
"I kind of laughed at that a little bit, but it was true," Neitzel said. "When I'm playing aggressive and looking for my shot and scoring, it keeps the defense honest and gives our team an extra boost. Relying on just three guys to score 20, 25 a night, it's tough."
The Spartans never trailed after scoring the game's first five points. They led by as many as 13 in the first half before Greg Brunner hit a fallaway jumper just before halftime to bring Iowa (14-5, 3-2) within nine.
MSU then blew the game wide open with a 21-5 run to start the second half. The Spartans shot a blistering 60.7 percent (17-of-28) after halftime en route to 48 second-half points. The Hawkeyes entered the game with the nation's fourth-best field-goal percentage defense (36.8 percent).
"You've got to give them credit for taking that wind out of us very quickly in the second half," Alford said. "They exploited us every way we could be exploited."
All those offensive fireworks may have overshadowed what was also MSU's best defensive showing of the young Big Ten season.
The Spartans held Iowa to a season-low 55 points on 33.9 percent shooting, and forced the Hawkeyes into more turnovers (18) than they had assists (17). MSU had a 20-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
"You can score a lot of points and still lose," Ager said. "But I think if we defend like we did tonight, we can beat a lot of teams."
Adam Haluska led the Hawkeyes with 19 points, and Brunner scored 17 and had 11 rebounds.
The Spartans have rebounded from their 0-2 Big Ten start with three straight wins against ranked opponents, but Izzo knows there's no time to rest with a trip to Ann Arbor looming Wednesday.
"Let's not anoint us a finished product because we're not," Izzo said. "But I like the steps we're taking. I like the fact that players are having some fun doing it."
