Junior guard Aaron Henry's 20-point performance helped the Spartans avoid a Penn State comeback in the final minutes.
Just 11 days after the Spartans fell to Iowa, 84-78, the two teams will meet again, this time in East Lansing.
Michigan State men's basketball (10-7 overall, 4-7 Big Ten) will look to continue to keep postseason hopes alive when hosting No. 15 Iowa (14-6 overall, 8-5 Big Ten) on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on FOX.
In the last meeting between these two, MSU had one of their best offensive performances of the season. The Spartans were hot from three-point range, shooting 12-for-29 from deep. Their offensive rhythm helped them hang with the Hawkeyes, who rank first in the conference in scoring offense.
At halftime there was good news and bad news for the Spartans. Good news: They were down by just five points. Bad news: Six of MSU's players had already tallied two fouls.
Foul trouble doomed the second half for MSU while Iowa's Luka Garza, a contender for Player of the Year, continued to dominate.
"The bottom line is they'll be a different team, and we'll be a little bit different team," Head Coach Tom Izzo said on Friday. "I think our guys know we can play with them, and that's important when your confidence has been shaken."
After pulling away against MSU, Iowa dropped two straight to No. 4 Ohio State and Indiana. They picked back up with a 79-66 win over No. 25 Rutgers on Feb. 10. The Hawkeyes have lost four of their last six games.
Michigan State has won two straight against Nebraska and Penn State since that Iowa matchup, but they haven't looked the same. The Spartans lost a 10-point edge on Penn State to pull away in a buzzer-beating 60-58 final score on Feb. 9. The offensive rhythm they found against Iowa has been lost since leaving Iowa City.
There have been some positives though. Since starting at Iowa, junior center Marcus Bingham Jr. has kept that spot and matured in his game. He's becoming someone Izzo can trust in the five spot that has been rotating the entire season.
Junior guard Foster Loyer has also started in every game since his Iowa debut, putting more maturity at the point guard position for MSU.
The Spartans played without junior forward Gabe Brown in their first match with Iowa as Brown sat out after testing positive for COVID-19. He has since returned and will likely play a large role in the Spartans' scoring scheme.
The Spartans are a bubble team for the 2021 NCAA Tournament. With a 4-7 conference record and with just seven games, as of now, remaining, they're walking on thin ice.
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