Will Michigan State basketball pick up more signature wins to finish season?

MSU vs. No. 20 Iowa (Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2)

Iowa is right there in the slew of Big Ten contenders and it has had exceptional play from center Luka Garza and guard Joe Wieskamp. These Iowa Hawkeyes have a great coach and know what it takes to beat the Spartans and they will come to play and look to add to their resume on Tuesday.

Garza has come to play and has showed up big time in important games. He’s averaging 24 points per game and just under 10 rebounds and his biggest games come against some of the toughest opponents. He has 34 points against Penn State, 44 points at Michigan and 38 at Indiana. Garza knows how to play and knows how to put up big numbers will look to do so against the Spartans.

Wieskamp also knows how to put up big numbers and knows how to lead his team to victories. He can shoot the ball and will do so against this Spartans team who struggles to defend the perimeter.

So how can Michigan State pull off the win and add this to its resume? It will need to play exceptional defense down low — the bigs for Michigan State will have to show up. With this revolving door at the four will need to get better here with not much time if they want to slow down Garza. Xavier Tillman will most likely be matched up on him for most of the game and will need to pull out all of the stops against him.

When a shot goes up, Tillman and all of the Spartans will need to locate their man and put a body on them to box out. Garza cannot get comfortable down low and control the paint and the boards. If he can do that, then it is game over for MSU.

Tillman will need to use his body and center of gravity to get low and not let Garza back him down. He will need to stay on his feet as well and not get caught up with going for the block. Just play good, solid defense and hope to slow him down.

Rocket Watts will need to slow down the perimeter. If Wieskamp can see the ball go through the hoop, it only takes a couple of shots and they will not be able to miss. This cannot happen. The Michigan State guards need to stay attached to their man. They will need to fight through the top of the screens so the Iowa guards don’t get the space to have an open look.

Staying attached to their man means only giving help side defense when necessary. When guards slide off their man to help on defense only for the swipe makes their recovery distance longer and they will not be able to defend the perimeter that needs to happen if they look to win this game.

Prediction: MSU 67, Iowa 75