Coen Carr scored 15 points to lead No. 7 Michigan State to a 71-52 home win over Iowa in the Big Ten conference opener for both teams on Tuesday.
Jeremy Fears Jr. went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and scored 14 points, and Jaxon Kohler had 12 points and 11 rebounds to help Michigan State (8-0, 1-0) stay unbeaten.
Michigan State dominated the boards, outrebounding Iowa 37-18.
The Spartans shot only 3 of 12 from 3-point range and committed 14 turnovers, but made up for that by going 20 of 34 (58.8%) on two-point shots and 22 of 25 from the free-throw line.
Bennett Stirtz was the only player in double figures for Iowa (7-1, 0-1), scoring 14 points in 37 minutes of action. Stirtz took eight of his 10 shots from 3-point range, making three of them.
Iowa shot 37.8% from the field overall (17 of 45), 30.4% from 3-point range (7 of 23) and committed 11 turnovers.
Trailing 46-27 with 15:54 remaining in the game, Iowa chipped away, cutting Michigan State’s lead to 48-35 with 14:09 left after a 3-pointer by Stirtz.
But Michigan State had an answer, using a 10-2 run to take a 62-40 lead with 6:56 left.
The Spartans then stretched their lead to 24 points, 67-43, with 4:12 remaining, effectively putting the game away.
Michigan State held a 35-21 lead at halftime, and then took a 43-23 lead with 16:45 remaining after a dunk by Carson Cooper.
Both teams got off to slow starts offensively, with Michigan State holding a 12-10 lead with 9:03 remaining in the first half.
The Spartans got going after that, using a 13-0 run over a span of 3:21 to grab a 25-10 lead with 5:42 remaining in the first half on a jumper by Fears.
Iowa couldn’t bring its deficit to under double digits for the rest of the first half.
