The Iowa Hawkeyes pulled off an incredible feat on Saturday night, completing an improbable comeback to defeat the Michigan State Spartans 112-106 in overtime. The Hawkeyes trailed by 13 points with 1:34 left in regulation and were down 10 with 48 seconds to go. But Iowa made six of its final nine 3-point attempts in the final 90 seconds of regulation to force overtime and then outscored MSU 11-5 in the extra session to get the win.
The comeback was led by the hot shooting of Connor McCaffery, Kris Murray, Patrick McCaffery, and Payton Sandfort. Murray led the way with 26 points and 8 rebounds, while Tony Perkins added 24 points, including two clutch putbacks in overtime. Sandfort had 22 off the bench and hit 6-of-10 from downtown.
For Michigan State, it was a brutal beat for bettors who had taken the Spartans +5.5. With 19 seconds left in overtime and Iowa up 112-106, Perkins made two free throws to put the Hawkeyes up by six points. On the ensuing possession, MSU’s Malik Hall jacked up a contested three and missed. Iowa got the rebound and dribbled out the 112-106 victory, covering the spread by half a point.
The win improved Iowa’s record to 18-11 overall and 10-8 in Big Ten play. MSU dropped to 17-11 (9-8 Big Ten). It was a wild turn of events, and the Hawkeyes’ comeback will be remembered for a long time.
