That's a loss that stings. Despite an ice-cold night from behind the arc, a bad night at the free throw line, only one made basket in the final six minutes, and the usual Breslin whistle (or lack thereof)... Iowa had a shot to tie or win the game against Michigan State at the end of regulation. Out of a timeout, Iowa ran a very well-designed play that used Kris Murray as a decoy and got Payton Sandfort a open three -- but the shot missed. Sandfort got another good look off a Connor McCaffery rebound -- but that shot also missed. No win, no tie, Iowa loses 63-61. There will be no shortage of regrets after this game.

The game started very well for Iowa -- Michigan State missed its first nine shots and Iowa was able to open up a 10-0 lead in the early going. That success didn't last, though -- Iowa's offense cooled off and Michigan State began making a few shots. The Spartans cut the Iowa lead to 14-12 around the midpoint of the first half and kept hanging around; every time Iowa made a few shots to push the lead to 4-5 points, Michigan State responded with a few buckets to keep the game tight. There were five lead changes and one tie in the final five minutes of the half, with MSU narrowly emerging on top for a 30-29 lead.

There wasn't much difference between the teams in the first half -- Iowa made 13 field goals, MSU made 12; Iowa scored 4 points off 4 MIchigan State turnovers, Michigan State scored 6 points off 6 Iowa turnovers; Iowa had 17 rebounds, MSU had 18; each team had 6 fast break points; and Iowa 20 points in the paint to MSU's 18. Kris Murray and Filip Rebraca were leading the way for Iowa, with each man posting 8 points on 4/8 shooting in the opening half.

Like the first half, the second half started well for Iowa. Iowa made 4 of 5 shots to start the half to open up a 38-35 lead. Ahron Ulis had three of those made field goals, and his seven points gave Iowa a boost out of the break. Iowa's shots stopped falling quite as often after that hot start, but the Hawkeyes held onto the lead until the halfway point of the second half, when a Joey Houser 3-pointer gave MSU a 48-47 lead. There was no separation from that point -- just eight lead changes and three ties as the game devolved into a defensive slugfest.

A short jumper by Ahron Ulis gave Iowa a 57-56 lead with 6:02 to play in the game; Iowa didn't score another field goal until Connor McCaffery banked in a short jumper with 0:35 to go. In-between, Iowa missed five shots, committed a turnover and went 2/5 at the free throw line (including a miss on the front end of a one-and-one).

Iowa stayed in the game because Michigan State was barely any better -- the Spartans went 3/9 from the floor in the final six minutes, plus a turnover and a missed free throw (also the front end of a one-and-one). MSU's inability to build a lead gave Iowa a chance at the end, but the Hawkeyes weren't able to convert their opportunities at the end of the game.

Ahron Ulis had a career-high 17 points and also had a team-high three assists in this game. Ulis' performance was a roller coaster, though -- as sharp as he was shooting the ball (8/10 from the floor), he also had six turnovers (including a costly one late in the game) and went 0/3 at the free throw line, including that aforementioned miss on the front end of a one-and-one. To be fair, a few of the turnovers were the result of Michigan State's intensely physical play and some uncalled fouls; others were the result of sloppy passes or poor decisions.

That said, Iowa also doesn't have any shot in this game without Ulis' shotmaking in this game; his aggressiveness in attacking the basket was what Iowa needed and he did a great job of finishing near the rim. There was some bad from Ulis in this game, no doubt, but there was also a lot of good; hopefully he can harness more of the latter and less of the former as the season progresses.

Filip Rebraca had his ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points (on 7/15 shooting) and 11 rebounds. Another very solid effort from him. Kris Murray was Iowa's only other scorer in double figures, with 11 points. He shot just 5/13 from the field and was 0/5 from the 3-point line and just 1/3 at the free throw line. He had no points in the final 19 minutes of the second half and attempted only two shots in the final nine minutes of the game. MSU's Malik Hall did an excellent job of frustrating him on defense, denying him the ball and keeping him out of his favored spots. Still, it does feel like Iowa needed to find a way to get the ball in Murray's hands more late in the game, especially with the offense struggling to do anything in the final six minutes.

No other Iowa player scored more than 6 points in the game; Tony Perkins and Connor McCaffery each shot 2/5 from the floor (McCaffery added 8 rebounds), while Payton Sandfort had just 5 points on 2/7 shooting. Iowa's bench didn't play much in this game -- four of the five starters played 35+ minutes -- but Sandfort, Josh Dix, and Dasonte Bowen didn't make much of an impact in their limited playing time. They finished with 6 points on 2/9 shooting, 5 rebounds, a steal, and a turnover. The Sparty bench outscored them 13-6, although nearly all of those points came from Hall (11 points on 4/8 shooting).

Whichever team lost this game probably could have pointed at free throws as a significant factor in that defeat, because neither team was great at the line. Iowa was a dismal 6/13 at the stripe -- but Michigan State was 7/12, only slightly better. Both teams missed the front end of key one-and-one opportunities late in the game. Both teams have generally been solid-or-better at the line this year -- Iowa has made 72.6% at the line this year, while Michigan State has converted 74.3% of their tries this season -- but neither was in good form tonight. The Spartans likely won't care much since they won the game, but Iowa will rue those missed chances at the free throw line.

Iowa's been a bit streaky from 3-point range at times this season, but the Hawkeyes picked a very bad game to be ice cold from deep. Iowa finished 3/17 (18%) from long range in the game, which included more than a few good looks (like Sandfort's shot out of the timeout at the end of the game). If Iowa keeps taking shots like that they should go down in future games... though that's no comfort at all for this defeat.

Meanwhile, a Michigan State team that normally gets only 29% of its points from deep got 38% of its scoring in this game from behind the 3-point arc and made 8/20 long range attempts. The Spartans were 6/13 from behind the arc in the second half, while Iowa was just 1/8; that's a pretty big disparity to overcome.

One of the reasons this defeat will sting a bit extra for Iowa is that the Hawkeyes actually played much better defense in this game. Iowa got blown off the floor by Ohio State over the weekend because the Hawkeyes couldn't get any defensive stops in the second half. Iowa got stops in this game -- it held MSU to 63 points and 0.95 points per possession. While some of MSU's offensive woes were just missing decent looks, Iowa played with better energy in this game and was more effective at contesting shots and disrupting passing lanes. The defense certainly did enough for Iowa to win this game.

Iowa returns home to host Rutgers on Sunday, January 29 at 1 PM CT (BTN). The Scarlet Knights are 14-5 overall and 6-3 in the Big Ten, all alone in second place in the league standings. Iowa beat them 76-65 in New Jersey a few weeks ago, part of a four-game winning streak for the Hawkeyes.