“In my terms, we didn’t play well from the opening whistle,” head coach Tom Izzo told Spartans Sports Network after the game. “First time in a long time — maybe years — I didn’t think our team brought anything to the table.”

Iowa scored the first five points of Wednesday’s game before junior forward Draymond Green put the Spartans on the board with a layup.

However, the Hawkeyes went on to score the next 10 points, and eventually 25 of the next 33 points, as Iowa built a 30-8 lead with 7:44 left in the half.

“We didn’t guard anybody,” Izzo said. “Confused on why, but we didn’t.”

Hawkeye guard Matt Gatens scored 10 of his 12 first-half points in the first 12 minutes, including knocking both of his 3-point attempts.

The half ended with the Hawkeyes winning, 41-20, shooting 19-for-29 (65.5 percent) from the field and 3-for-4 (75 percent) from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, the Spartans — led by senior guard Kalin Lucas’ 10 points — were shooting a dismal 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) from the field without making a single of their nine 3-pointers.

While Iowa’s shooting was impressive, MSU’s eight first-half turnovers also helped the Hawkeyes into easy layups in transition.

In the second half, Iowa increased its lead to as much as 26 points, as the Spartans continued to struggle on both ends of the floor.

An 11-1 MSU run cut the Hawkeye’s lead to 15 with 8:36 to play, but it would get no closer the rest of the way.

Lucas led the Spartans with 17 points, followed by sophomore center Derrick Nix with 12.

Gatens paced a balanced Iowa attack with 19 points, but three other players had at least 11.

“Give Iowa credit, and give us blame,” Izzo said. “We sure did play poorly.”

MSU will be back in action at 1 p.m. Sunday against Wisconsin in Madison, Wisc.