WHO: Michigan State Spartans (13-7, 5-4 Big Ten)
WHEN: 6:01 PM CT
WHERE: Breslin Center (East Lansing, MI)
TV: FS1 (Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin and Bobby Hansen) | Sirius/XM 380/970
MOBILE: www.foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: www.foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaHoops | @IowaonBTN
LINE: Michigan State -2.5
KENPOM: Michigan State -3 (61% chance of winning)

Iowa
G Tony Perkins (10.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.4 bpg, 40.4 FG%, 28.9 3FG%)
G Ahron Ulis (5.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.6 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.2 bpg, 36.1 FG%, 29.5 3FG%)
F Connor McCaffery (7.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.0 bpg, 44.6 FG%, 38.5 3FG%)
F Kris Murray (21.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.7 spg, 1.2 bpg, 51.3 FG%, 37.6 3FG%)
F Filip Rebraca (13.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.6 spg, 1.4 bpg, 57.7 FG%, 40.0 3FG%)

Michigan State
G AJ Hoggard (12.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 6.1 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.4 bpg, 41.5 FG%, 29.2 3FG%)
G Tyson Walker (14.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.3 bpg, 44.8 FG%, 42.2 3FG%)
F Jaden Akins (8.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.3 bpg, 39.4 FG%, 43.6 3FG%)
F Jody Hauser (13.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.2 apg, 0.5 spg, 0.1 bpg, 48.0 FG%, 40.9 3FG%)
C Mady Sissoko (5.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.8 bpg, 56.5% FG, 0.0 3FG%)

Michigan State's season was going much better about two weeks ago -- the Spartans were 12-4 overall, 4-1 in Big Ten games, and riding a 7-game winning streak. But the Spartans have since lost three of their last four games and enter Thursday night's game at 13-7 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten. They're one of several teams in the Big Ten's very muddled middle; just two games separate second place from eleventh place in the current Big Ten standings. That said, I'm not sure Michigan State's recent slump has as much to do with poor play by the Spartans as it does the difficulty of their schedule ramping up. MSU's first three Big Ten wins in the new year were over Nebraska, Michigan, and Wisconsin; their recent 1-3 stretch featured games against Illinois (surging), Purdue (the Big Ten's best), Rutgers, and Indiana.

Iowa has not had the greatest success in East Lansing -- the Hawkeyes are just 2-14 at the Breslin Center since the 2002 season -- but Iowa has done well against the Spartans lately. The Hawkeyes have actually won three in a row against the Spartans, sweeping them in 2021 and beating them in Iowa City in their only meeting last season. So several of these Iowa players have tasted success against Michigan State and in East Lansing, which is a positive. Iowa could also be getting a boost in the form of Patrick McCaffery's return tonight -- during a presser this week, Fran McCaffery indicated that Patrick had been practicing with the team recently and would be a "gametime decision" in terms of his availability for this game.

Befitting their 13-7 overall record and ranking of 40th in KenPom, this year's Spartans aren't elite on offense or defense -- but they're also not bad on either side of the ball. Michigan State ranks 37th in defensive efficiency and 52nd in offensive efficiency. On defense, MSU's strength is in slowing the game down, dragging out possessions, contesting shots, and hitting the glass. Michigan State is holding opponents to an effective field goal percentage of just 46.3% (34th best nationally), including just 30.5% from 3-point range and 46.6% on 2-point attempts. They're also allowing opponents to grab just 24.% of their offensive rebounds; hard to score if you miss your initial shot and can't get a rebound. Offensively, MSU's main strength is in not turning the ball over (just 16.5% of possessions end in a giveaway). Curiously, the Spartans are also good at making 3-point attempts (37.4% from deep, 31st nationally) and converting free throws (75.0%, 59th nationally) -- but they don't actually attempt that many 3s or get to the free throw line very often.

Michigan State's main offensive weapons are guards Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard and forward Jody Hauser. Walker, who transferred from Northeastern two season ago, is averaging a team-high 14.3 ppg and is one of the Spartans' top outside threats, making 41% from deep this season while attempting a bit over four three-point tries per game. Hoggard is averaging 12.7 ppg, but he isn't much of an outside shooter (just 29.2% from long range, despite attempting almost 2.5 per game). However, his real strength is his distribution -- he ranks 4th nationally in assist rate and averages 6.1 assists per game. He's an excellent passer and very good at setting up the MSU offense.

Hauser, a 6'9, 220 lb forward who transferred from Marquette after the 2019 season, is probably Michigan State's best player. He's a strong all-around player, averaging 13.8 ppg (2nd best on the team) and 7.8 rpg (best on the team). He can score at all levels -- in addition to making 53% of his 2-point tries, he's also draining 41% of his 3-point tries, while attempting almost 4.5 three-pointers per game (an increase of around 1.5 more three-point attempts than he tried last season). He'll probably also draw the assignment on defense of slowing down Kris Murray.

Defensive effort. Iowa has sunk to 147th in defensive efficiency after getting blistered by Ohio State for 93 points and 1.3 points per possession on Saturday. Iowa doesn't have to be an elite defensive team to succeed, but the Hawkeyes do have to try on that end of the floor. That means not giving up open looks and not being slow to rotate or hit the glass. Hopefully we see an Iowa team that's more locked in on defense than they were against Ohio State -- if not, it could set up another ugly night for Iowa at the Breslin Center.

Battle of the bench. Ohio State's bench outscored Iowa's reserves 28-14 on Saturday. In contrast, Iowa's reserves averaged almost 25 ppg during the Hawkeyes' four-game winning streak prior to the Ohio State game. Sure, most of the bench scoring came from Payton Sandfort, but a) Iowa needs someone to step up on offense aside from Kris Murray and Filip Rebraca and Sandfort is probably the most likely source of points and b) the non-Sandfort reserves gave Iowa good production in several of those games as well. The Spartans have been fairly thin of late with 6'8 forward Malik Hall sidelined and their reserves haven't produced much on offense; if they outperform Iowa's reserves on Thursday night, it's probably a bad sign for the Hawkeyes.