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USATSI

No. 8 Michigan State heads to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes in a Big Ten clash on Thursday, and the Spartans (24-5, 15-3) enter the contest with at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title after archrival Michigan lost on Wednesday. With a win over Iowa (15-14, 6-12), Michigan State can win the conference outright before finishing the regular season against the Wolverines on Sunday. 

Tipoff from Carver-Hawkeye Arena is set for 8 p.m. ET, and the hosts will look to play spoiler and hold off the Spartans' quest for an outright Big Ten championship for at least one more game. 

Michigan State at Iowa odds

  • Spread: Michigan State -7.5
  • Total: 152.5
  • Money line: Michigan State -307, Iowa +244 

The Spartans are 7.5-point road favorites and are -307 (bet $307 to win $100) on the money line, according to SportsLine consensus. The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, are +244 on the money line (bet $100 to win $244), and the over/under for this Big Ten clash is 152.5 with the Over priced at -111 and the Under at -109. 

Michigan State is 18-10-1 against the spread this year, including 9-4-1 on the road and 13-9 as favorites. Iowa is 12-17 against the spread, 8-9 on its home court and just 3-10 as underdogs. 

The SportsLine Projection Model model leans to the Under in this game and projects one side of the spread to hit 61% of the time. You can see the model's latest projections on SportsLine, and be sure to check out expert picks from analysts like Jason La Canfora and Chip Patterson, both of whom are backing one side of the over/under. 

Jaden Akins and Jase Richardson lead the way for the Spartans offensively, with Akins pacing the team in points per game (12.9) and Richardson not far behind (11.0). Richardson has been extremely efficient this season, making 52% of his shots and 39.2% of his 3-point attempts. The Spartans have a deep roster that head coach Tom Izzo utilizes, with 10 players averaging at least 14.2 minutes of play time every game. Izzo's team are solid all around this year, ranking 78th in the nation in scoring and 43rd in points per game allowed, which has the Spartans 21st in scoring margin. Michigan State's defense is 15th best when it comes to field goal percentage, and the team is great at rebounds, ranking 13th in the country, and in transition with the fourth-most fastbreak points scored per game. 

Payton Sandfort has been the top player for Iowa this year, leading the team in points (16.1) and rebounds (6.2) per game. Star sophomore forward Owen Freeman scored 16.7 points per game this year, but he only played 19 games before undergoing season-ending finger surgery. The Hawkeyes' record may be poor, but they do score points -- the 20th-most in the nation, in fact. A big part of that is Iowa is efficient from the field, making 48.6% of its shots, good for 21st in America, and 37.52% of its 3-point tries, 28th overall. The Hawkeyes' issue, however, is defensively, where they are 345th out of 355 in opponent field goal percentage and 332nd in points allowed. For you college football fans out there, Iowa's hoops team is essentially the exact opposite of the school's football team, which plays suffocating defense but struggles mightily to find the end zone. 

With the drastic shakeup in the Big Ten this year, this is the first and only time the Spartans and Hawkeyes will play this season. After dropping three of four, Michigan State enters this game riding a five-game winning streak while Iowa has lost 10 of its last 13 and each of its last two contests.