Michigan State vs. Iowa NCAA Basketball Picks and Odds Analysis (Archive)
With his team stumbling as the regular season draws to a close, Tom Izzo takes his Michigan State Spartans out on the Big Ten highway to face the Iowa Hawkeyes on Tuesday’s NCAA basketball betting card.
Michigan State Spartans vs. Iowa Hawkeyes
Tuesday, February 22, 2022 – 7:00 PM EST at Carver-Hawkeye Arena
A couple of teams sitting just above the middle of their conference standings is what we have in this collision between Michigan State and Iowa. The Spartans – ranked fifth in the Big Ten by the college basketball futures before the season – are sixth in the current standings and in search of a sprint to the finish to try and move up to at least fourth in order claim one of the byes into the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Iowa has been playing better with four wins in the last five trips to the floor, pushing the Hawkeyes up a game behind Michigan State. While stranger things have happened, Iowa would pretty much have to win out plus get some help in order to finish fourth or higher. Both the Hawkeyes and Spartans have three road games left among their final five contests.
Sparty Just 1-5 ATS in February
The matchup can be seen on ESPN, and most of the best online betting sites are requiring Iowa backers to give up 6½ points. The Spartans don’t have a clear lean in the totals column like the strong ‘over’ tendency for the Hawkeyes, and Tuesday's scoreboard target is 153.
It hasn’t been a very good season for either Big Ten entry from the Mitten State, though at least Izzo isn’t in the doghouse like his counterpart Juwan Howard over in Ann Arbor. Michigan State’s sharp drop-off began with a February 5 trip to New Jersey where Rutgers spanked the Spartans by 21.
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Before that game, the Spartans were 8-2 in league play, and the loss to the Scarlet Knights was the first of four over the course of MSU’s last five. Michigan State backers will tell you the downturn actually started before the loss at Rutgers in the Spartans’ first game of February, a spread defeat to Maryland. The Spartans have covered the NCAA basketball odds just once in their six February contests.
Izzo’s troops had a chance at an upset last Saturday at home against Illinois but dug too deep a hole in the first half to pull it off. Down by 16 at one point, the Spartans put on a valiant charge near the end and pulled within a bucket with 1:25 left. That’s as close as they got as Kofi Cockburn and the Fighting Illini left Breslin Center with a 79-74 decision.
Hawkeyes Second Nationally in Fewest Turnovers
While the Spartans have struggled this month, February has been good to Fran McCaffery and his Hawkeyes. After closing January with losses to Purdue and Penn State, Iowa has won four of five games and the late push was enough for pollsters to award them with a No. 25 setting in the latest AP rankings.
The surge started when McCaffery shifted Jordan Bohannon to point guard and having the senior directing the offense has made a huge difference. It also helps to have a talented forward like Keegan Murray who has gone off this month averaging 27.6 points per game.
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Keegan and his brother Kris Murray were instrumental in Iowa’s 75-62 win at Ohio State this past weekend. BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review) closed the Hawkeyes as 5-point underdogs, and the Murray Brothers combined to score 35 while pulling down 13 boards in the upset win.
Iowa Seeking Third-Straight Win in Series
Tuesday is the only scheduled meeting this season between the Spartans and Hawkeyes, and Michigan State owns a healthy advantage in the rivalry with a 76-57 record in the series. Iowa cut into that gap a little by winning both matchups a season ago, and the Hawkeyes are 36-26 all-time when hosting the Spartans in Iowa City.
Michigan State had won the previous five before Iowa swept the pair last season, two of those wins for the Spartans coming at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The meeting in Iowa City last February saw the Hawkeyes overcome a 10-point halftime deficit to post an 84-78 decision, though that wasn’t enough to cover as 9-point home favorites. The final went ‘over’ for the fourth time in the last five games on Iowa’s home floor.
Iowa will add a little emotion to the game by retiring former Hawkeyes great Luka Garza’s jersey at halftime. Garza was instrumental in Iowa sweeping Michigan State last season, and a win tonight would mark the first time the Hawkeyes beat the Spartans three in a row since 2006-07. My free college basketball pick, however, will be to take the underdog in this Big Ten battle.
NCAAB Pick: Michigan State +6½ (-109) with GTbets (visit our GTbets Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.