Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from blowout win over Iowa

Michigan State basketball hosted Iowa on Monday night and beat the Hawkeyes up for 40 minutes en route to a blowout win. What’d we learn?

Beating Iowa is one thing, but embarrassing the Hawkeyes 90-68 is another. Michigan State took this ranked matchup more than seriously as it smacked the Hawkeyes on Monday night and came away with its second Big Ten win on the season.

Michigan State is now 2-0 in conference play and 7-2 overall with an ever-growing resume with wins over Iowa, Texas and UCLA and close losses against Louisville and Kansas.

Tom Izzo has to feel good about this victory, but maybe the Hawkeyes aren’t as good as everyone had once thought at No. 18 in the AP Top 25. Still, a 22-point win over a top-half contender in the conference is impressive, no matter who you ask.

What’d we learn from Michigan State’s blowout win over Iowa?

5. Xavier Tillman is well ahead of schedule

Earlier in the year, I was hard on Xavier Tillman. The former four-star recruit and runner-up for Michigan’s Mr. Basketball was struggling in his second season with the Spartans. He was averaging 5.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in the first six games.

Those aren’t awful numbers, but you could tell his confidence just wasn’t there. He was turnover-prone, averaging nearly 2.0 per game, but over the last three games, he has a total of two turnovers and has gotten his confidence back.

The sophomore big man is averaging 12 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, making 14-of-21 shots from the field.

This kid has turned things around in a hurry and it looks like he’s far ahead of schedule after a sluggish start to the 2018-19 season.