Iowa 43, No. 6 Michigan St. 36

1/13/2008 12:08 AM

By LUKE MEREDITH
AP Sports Writer

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -Michigan State saw its winning streak end in historically futile fashion.

Tony Freeman scored a season-high 22 points and lowly Iowa stunned No. 6 Michigan State 43-36 on Saturday night, holding the Spartans to a school-record low for points in a game during the shot clock era.

The loss end Michigan State's winning streak at 11 games.

The Spartans, who were second in the Big Ten in scoring offense, had just 18 points over the final 28:08. Michigan State was averaging 77.7 points, but their 36 points were just barely half of their previous season low of 63. The Spartans (14-2, 2-1 Big Ten) went 16-of-52 from the field, hit just one free throw and committed 18 turnovers.

Needless to say, Izzo was less than thrilled with his team, which played itself into Michigan State's record books for all the wrong reasons. It was Michigan State's lowest scoring effort since they had just 36 in a loss to Michigan in 1952.

``All I can say is that it's ... an embarassing loss the way we played,'' said Izzo. ``I didn't think we had one guy that played even close to capable. We missed layups, we missed free throws, and we just couldn't find a way to get over the hump.''

Iowa wasn't much better. The Hawkeyes (8-9, 1-3) made just 11 field goals, but that was enough to give coach Todd Lickliter his first Big Ten win. Michigan State is also the highest-ranked team Lickliter has beaten as a head coach.

``That's a very good Michigan State team,'' Lickliter said. ``I am proud of our guys for the effort they gave and the results they were able to come up with.''

As bad as the Spartans played, they still had a chance to pull out an ugly win late in the game.

Drew Neitzel looked like he might give Michigan State its first lead of the second half when he stripped Freeman and drove to the basket with just over two minutes left. But his layup, like many other Michigan State tries, rolled out.

The Spartans picked up a quick foul and Travis Walton followed with an airball. Freeman then nailed a 3 to make it 39-34. Neitzel tried to answer with a 3 that rimmed out, and Raymar Morgan was called for an intentional foul that gave Iowa two shots and the ball with 54.6 seconds left. Cryus Tate missed both free throws, but Freeman hit a pair to give Iowa a 41-34 lead.

Freeman was a pedestrian 5-of-12 from the floor. But on this night, that qualified as ``hot.''

``He was so poised. He made big shots,'' Lickliter said of Freeman. ``Tony is a terrific jump shooter, and tonight he did more of that.''

Morgan and Neitzel each had 10 points for Michigan State. The Spartans were playing just their second true road game, and Izzo thought the Spartans simply got outplayed by an Iowa team that is usually tough at home.

The Hawkeyes have won 16 of their last 18 home games in conference play.

``It was a total breakdown by just about every player on our team, and that doesn't happen very often,'' Izzo said. ``I'm very disappointed. I thought that was one of the poorest overall games we've played, maybe since I've been head coach.''

Believe it or not, Michigan State started out well. The Spartans jumped out to an 18-9 lead before going scoreless for the final 8:08 of the first half - as shot after shot rimmed out - and they trailed 20-18 at the break.

Iowa missed 12 of its first 13 shots from the field. But the Hawkeyes bounced back with an 11-0 run to end the first half, highlighted by a pair of 3s from Freeman, to take a two-point halftime lead. Iowa held the Spartans to a season low for first-half points, but shot just 21.7 percent in the opening half.

Kurt Looby and Tate each had nine for Iowa, which had lost nine of its last 12. The last defeat came at Ohio State last Wednesday, when the Hawkeyes were embarassed 79-48. Lickliter was hoping his team would respond with a stronger effort against Michigan State, and that's what he got.

Even if it wasn't pretty.

``We were awfully down after Wednesday. Nobody liked that. Basically you have two things you can do. Our guys chose the right thing,'' Lickliter said.

The last time Michigan State shot so poorly was against the Hawkeyes on March 11, 2006, when they hit just 28.3 percent from the field. And as strange as it might sound, this wasn't the worst performance the Spartans have put up under Izzo. Michigan State was blasted by Purdue 62-38 last season.

``All the little things, not knowing what to do, we just weren't there,'' Izzo said. ``We deserved what we got.''