Not enough: Michigan State 63, Iowa 61

Fellow contributor and former high school coach Bartt Pierce would tell his team when he coached they’d need to be seven points better than normal to come away with road wins to account for all the variables associated the hostile environment.

The Iowa Hawkeyes (12-8, 4-5) got 10 to start the game and even that didn’t prove to be enough in a grueling battle with the Michigan State Spartans (14-7, 6-4) in a 63-61 loss at Breslin. Payton Sandfort had two threes go awry in the final 8 seconds which would have put Iowa ahead.

Ahron Ulis was the guy tonight, with a career-high 17 points including a jumper which gave Iowa its final lead on the night. Unfortunately his performance was not without…