Winston, Ward Help Lead No. 6 Michigan State Past No. 19 Iowa, 82-67

Iowa City, Iowa – Junior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored 23 points and had seven assists and junior forward Nick Ward (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds as No. 6 Michigan State used a big second half run to pull away from No. 19 Iowa en route to an 82-67 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Thursday night.

Senior guard Matt McQuaid (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville0 hit a trio of 3-pointers in the second half and finished with nine points, three rebounds and three assists, while redshirt senior Kenny Goins (Troy, Mich./Warren Mott) chipped in seven points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Records
Michigan State, winners of 13-straight and 18 of the last 19 overall, improves to 18-2 overall and 9-0 in the Big Ten, while Iowa falls to 16-4 overall and 5-4 in league play. The Spartans have won 21-straight Big Ten Conference games, dating back to last season, and have won their last 12 league road games, both school records.

Summary

MSU trailed by four points (35-31) at the break, but Iowa's Tyler Cook scored 10 of his 17 points in the opening 3:59 of the second half as the Hawkeyes took their biggest lead of the game, 50-42, on a Cook layup at the 16:01 mark.
The Spartans quickly tied the game, scoring eight points in a span of 1:42, with a pair of Winston 3-pointers and a layup from freshman forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) tying the game at the 13:49 mark.
A 3-pointer from McQuaid gave MSU the lead for good at 53-50 with 12;51 left as the Spartans held Iowa scoreless for 4:12 and took a 56-50 lead on a three-point play from Ward with 12:16 to play, capping a 14-0 run.
After a basket from Luka Garza at the 11:49 mark making it 56-52, the Spartans reeled off 10-straight points and Winston sank three free throws after being fouled taking a 3-pointer, capping a 24-2 run over 5:16 as MSU extended its lead to 66-52.
The lead was cut to 11 points, 68-54, on a Garza basket, but McQuaid responded with his third 3-pointer of the half, pushing the margin to 71-57.
Iowa would get no closer than 12 points and the Spartans took their biggest lead, 80-61, on a Winston floater with 2:23 left in the game.
Michigan State went into the half trailing 35-31 after 3-pointers from Iowa's Jordan Bohannaon and Nicholas Bear broke a 29-all tie in the final two minutes. Free throws from Winston with 38 seconds left cut the lead to four points.
There were two ties and four lead changes in the opening 20 minutes, with MSU struggling out of the gate but eventually taking a 12-7 lead after a Winston three-point play.
MSU led 21-15 after a pair of free throws from Ward, but Iowa used a 9-2 burst to take a 24-23 lead on a Garza basket with 6:43 left.

Key Stats

After shooting just 37.5 percent in the first half (9-of-24), MSU connected on 66.7 percent of its second half shots (18-of-27).
Michigan State connected on 95.2 percent of its free throws (20-of-21). Winston (8-of-8) and Ward (7-of-7) connected on all 15 of their shots.
The Spartans hit only 2-of-9 3-point attempts in the first half (22.2 percent), but connected on 6-of-10 (60.0 percent) in the second half.
The Spartans limited Iowa to just one 3-pointer in the second half as the Hawkeyes shot only 9.1 percent in the final 20 minutes (1-of-11).
MSU held a 42-26 advantage in rebounding, including a 21-11 edge in the second half.

Notes

Michigan State has held 15 opponents to 70 points or fewer this season.
No opponent has shot above 50 percent against the Spartans this year and it was the 16th time this season MSU held its opponent below 40 percent.
Michigan State finished the game shooting 52.9 percent from the floor, the 12th time this season above 50 percent.
The Spartans connected on 95.2 percent of their free throws (20-of-21), the highest mark this season.
MSU collected 42 rebounds, the 16th time this season with at least 40.
Winston led the team in scoring with 23 points. It was his ninth game with at least 20 points this season and the 10th time he has led the team in scoring.
It was his 19th game in double figures and the 52nd of his career.
He has scored 1,043 points in 90 career games, an 11.6 points per game average, and ranks 40th all-time at Michigan State.
Winston also handed out seven assists, the 15th time this season he has had at least six in a game.
Ward registered his fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
He has scored at least 20 points eight times this season and 19 times in his career.
It was his 16th game in double figures and the 61st of his career.
Ward now has 1,239 career points (13.8 per game) and is 30th on the all-time MSU chart.
Michigan State out-rebounded its opponent for the 19th time this season (18-1).

Up Next
Michigan State this the road for the final game of a stretch of four away games in a five-game span, visiting Purdue on Sunday, Jan. 27. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. (ET). The game will air live on CBS, with Kevin Harlan calling the play-by-play and Clark Kellog serving as the color analyst.

Winston, Ward Help Lead No. 6 Michigan State Past No. 19 Iowa, 82-67

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Team Stats

Cassius Winston

Nick Ward

Matt McQuaid

Kenny Goins

Players Mentioned

Kenny Goins

Aaron Henry

Matt McQuaid

Nick Ward

Cassius Winston

Players Mentioned

Kenny Goins

Aaron Henry

Matt McQuaid

Nick Ward

Cassius Winston

Winston, Ward Help Lead No. 6 Michigan State Past No. 19 Iowa, 82-67

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Kenny Goins

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Matt McQuaid

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