Michigan State University
Iowa
Spartans Drop One To Iowa, 75-71
1/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 22, 2002
By CHUCK SCHOFFNER
AP Sports Writer
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Benched at the start of the game for the first time this season, Luke Recker and Pierre Pierce delivered at the end for Iowa.
Recker sank three free throws in the final 1:03, and Pierce hit two to give Iowa the lead as the Hawkeyes beat Michigan State 75-71 Tuesday night to break a three-game losing streak.
For Recker, an encouraging call from his sister proved to be prophetic.
"My sister called me today and said, `It's not who starts the game, it's who finishes the game,' " Recker said. "She's right. Obviously, I'd like to start, but whatever is best for the team, I'll do."
Iowa coach Steve Alford shuffled his lineup to try to shake his team out of its doldrums, starting Ryan Hogan and Brody Boyd in place of Recker and Pierce.
Recker still ended up with 16 points and Pierce played excellent defense on Michigan State's Marcus Taylor in the second half in addition to making his clutch free throws.
"Everyone had to understand their role and they did," Alford said. "It isn't easy to take players out of the game when they make mistakes, but that's what we needed, so I hope we got their attention."
Playing its first game this season as an unranked team, Iowa (14-7, 3-4 Big Ten) recovered after blowing a nine-point lead in the second half and broke an eight-game losing streak to Michigan State.
Michigan State (11-8, 2-4) shot 53 percent for the game but did not score after Taylor hit a jump shot to put the Spartans ahead 71-70 with 1:17 left. Taylor led all scorers with 20 points but had only six in the second half on 2-for-8 shooting.
"I think their two guards, Pierce and Chauncey Leslie, are better defensively and that had something to do with it," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said of Taylor's second-half shooting. "Another thing might be I only took him out once. We were wearing him down."
Recker hit a free throw with 1:03 remaining to tie the score at 71. After Michigan State's Kelvin Torbert missed a 3-point shot, Taylor drove for a shot, but Pierce stripped the ball and was fouled going to the other end.
"I saw an opening and I figured I could take it up in there," Taylor said. "It's a situation where I didn't think about the shot clock. I just wanted a basket so we could go back on defense."
After a hug from Recker, Pierce made both free throws with a 73-71 Iowa lead with 22.3 seconds left.
"I just said, `You're a big-time player, Pierre, and big-time players make these free throws at the end,' " Recker said.
Recker then came up with the ball after Taylor missed a 3-point attempt and made two final free throws with 2.1 seconds to play.
Reggie Evans also scored 16 points for Iowa, which for the first time in Big Ten play had more assists (14) than turnovers (11). Glen Worley added nine points and had four of Iowa's 13 steals.
Torbert scored 14, while Aloysius Anagonye and Chris Hill each had 10 for the Spartans.
Michigan State finished the game without Anagonye and Ballinger, its top two inside players. Ballinger fouled out with 5:40 remaining and Anagonye fouled out 20 seconds later. Another inside player, Adam Wolfe, did not play at all because of a hamstring injury.
"We had no players left again and that's getting frustrating," Izzo said.
Michigan State led 39-37 at halftime and stretched its lead to 46-41 when Taylor scored on a drive. Recker then hit a 3-pointer to start a 14-0 run that sent Iowa into a 55-46 lead.
The Spartans responded with nine straight points, tying it at 58 on Ballinger's putback. The lead changed hands four times after that before Recker tied it with his free throw.
"We were at home and we had to get our fans back," Evans said. "Our fans are great. We have the best fans in the Big Ten. We had to give them something to cheer about."
