After being ranked No. 1 at one point this season, Michigan State can no longer even win the regular season title for the Big Ten. The Spartans are in need of a big turnaround before conference tournaments begin as the team has lost three of their last four games. The No. 22 ranked team is trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak as they faced ranked rival, Iowa on Thursday night.
Head coach Tom Izzo is blaming injuries as a reason for the slump in the season. The team put out a season-low offensive effort against Illinois, dropping the team to 4-6 in the past six weeks. Injuries are certainly not helping. Keith Appling has been out with a wrist injury. Branden Dawson is slowly coming back from a broken hand. Adreian Payne had been out with a foot sprain. All three impact players are certainly not helping the push for March Madness.
Payne is slowly coming back into his own after the injury. He is averaging 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in seven games. However, he only managed four points against Illinois. Gary Harris has been the lone constant for the Spartans. He leads the team with 17.9 points and had 19 points the team's first meeting with Iowa.
The Hawkeyes are coming off a home win that ended a three-game losing streak. They have not had any success playing in East Lansing. Iowa has dropped 17 games in a row there dating back to 1993. In their first meeting with Michigan State this season, the Hawkeyes blew a four-point lead at halftime to lose in overtime. Roy Devyn Marble led the team with 17.1 points.