Michigan State and Iowa will both be hoping to improve their respective NCAA Tournament seeding when they square off on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans have won three of their last four games and are listed as a No. 7 seed in the latest bracket projections from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. Meanwhile, Iowa has dropped to a No. 8 seed after losing two straight road games earlier this week.
Michigan State is likely secure in the NCAA Tournament field, but it will be looking to improve its resume on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans have won three of their last four games after losing five of their previous seven games. They picked up consecutive wins over Maryland and Ohio State earlier this month before having a game against Minnesota postponed due to a tragic shooting on their campus. Michigan State returned with a loss to Michigan last Saturday, but it bounced back with an 80-65 win over No. 17 Indiana on Tuesday as a 3.5-point favorite, covering the spread for the third time in its last four games.
Contributions from everyone in the win ????
“He brings a lot of energy, and when he does something good it gets everyone going. It's good to see the progress he has made from when he first got here to now offensively and defensively.&q uot;@TysonWalker13 on @jaxonkohler pic.twitter.com/I5KO1b0iQA
— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) February 24, 2023
The Spartans’ strength has been from the perimeter, ranked No. 25 nationally in 3-point shooting (37.5). They also have a low turnover rate and are knocking down better than 75% of their attempts from the charity stripe. Their weakness offensively has been their 2-point percentage (47.8) and a low rebounding percentage that is No. 219. They are facing an Iowa defense that is No. 283 in field goal percentage. Senior guard Tyson Walker leads Michigan State with 14.0 points and 2.7 assists per game, while senior forward Joey Hauser is adding 13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jaden Akins scored a team-high 12 points in Michigan State’s 63-61 win over Iowa at the end of January, pacing five Spartans in double figures in that contest.
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