Iowa
Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s 71-52 win over Iowa
1. MSU showed its style can match up with any style and any pace
EAST LANSING — That was a really good win for Michigan State’s basketball team, believe it or not. That Iowa team is going to wind up being trouble a lot of nights in the Big Ten. And this could have been a thorny night for the Spartans, if they’d let it.
Things didn’t start easy. They were playing against a different style and more deliberate pace than anything they’d faced yet this season. They didn’t have their best freshman, Cam Ward, who missed the game with a sprained wrist. He would have been useful in this matchup. They had to figure out how to control the game without a fast break.
But they did, turning a prickly first 10 minutes into an emphatic home win, 71-52, imposing their will on team a that didn’t have the big men to match up in the paint and on the glass. Their energy was only matched by Pat Fitzgerald’s energy, as MSU’s new football coach introduced himself to the Breslin Center crowd Tuesday night during a first-half timeout. He told the fans they were the difference in MSU’s run just before that break. They might have been.
But one thing we’ve learned about this MSU team is that to have a chance to beat it, you’ve got to match its toughness and be able to handle its physicality. The Hawkeyes could do neither. Iowa would have to shoot the daylights out of the ball from beyond the arc — which the Hawkeyes are capable of doing — to have any chance.
This game looked dangerous on the calendar because the Hawkeyes are better than MSU made them look and because human nature says this was a little bit of a look-ahead spot, if a Big Ten opener can ever be that. Getting Duke at Breslin Center this coming Saturday is an event. Something to look forward to. This MSU team, though, hasn’t looked distracted all season. We should begin to trust they won’t be. Especially not to open conference play, at home, the beginning of a title defense, and for a core group that looks out to prove something.
The rebounding numbers and points in the paint told the story of the difference between the teams. The Spartans out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 37-18, including 24-12 on the offensive end (MSU rebounded 52% of its missed shots), outscored them in the paint, 34-18, and hit 22 of 25 free throws.
“That takes care of a lot of things,” Izzo said of MSU’s work on the glass especially.
MSU created a lot of contact in the first half, getting to the line to loosen up its offense and spur an 11-0 run in a game that was 9-9 at the midway point of the first half.
Neither team shot well from the perimeter. The problem for the Hawkeyes is that they live by the 3 much more and took many more.
Now MSU can focus on the fourth and final of its marquee non-conference matchups, likely the biggest test of its ceiling and also of its improvement since the exhibition at Connecticut. At 8-0, and with how they’ve played, the Spartans have earned the hype this game will come with.
2. An impressive night for Coen Carr
There were several impressive performances by MSU on Tuesday night. Jaxon Kohler’s dominance early on the glass set a tone in the paint (He finished with 12 points and 11 rebonds). Jeremy Fears Jr. got to the line repeatedly and didn’t miss there (going 10-for-10), and made Iowa star Bennett Stirtz’s life difficult.
But Coen Carr, perhaps, deserves as much credit as anyone. This wasn’t a matchup built for him. Because Iowa doesn’t play a game that allows for transition offense. Carr had to work his way into this and figure out how to impact the game. And he did, with 15 points and five rebounds, almost all of his production coming in the final couple minutes of the first half and in the second half.
That was a good sign for Carr. He didn’t force things, but he also didn’t accept that this wasn’t going to be his night. He got on the glass and started attacking the lane on the drive. Iowa didn’t have an answer for him.
3. Freshman thoughts — the Iowa edition
Jesse McCulloch played a season-high 17 minutes, in part because Cam Ward missed the game with a sprained wrist. MSU will and has faced teams with better front lines, but McCulloch made the most of his opportunity, with nine points and two rebounds. The redshirt freshman big man sometimes has been overmatched this season. But he played well in a short spurt against North Carolina and then in a longer stint Tuesday.
He’s got a skilled offensive game and we saw it against Iowa, especially with a couple buckets late. The more he holds his own on the glass and defensively, the more we’ll see him.
The other MSU freshman that played, Jordan Scott, had another Jordan Scott-like game. They ought to just name the plus-minus stat after him. At halftime, he had six points and was plus-18 in 10 minutes. Nobody else was better than plus-10. He finished with those six points and five rebounds. He’s a gritty player who makes MSU better when he’s on the court. He also hit one of MSU’s three 3s. If he starts making more, he’ll be a 20-minute per game player every night. You could argue he already should be.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (KTIV) – Gelita USA held an open house Friday, July 10, to celebrate the completion of a new wastewater treatment facility at its plant near Sergeant Bluff, marking the end of years of regulatory violations tied to its discharge into the Missouri River.
Gelita manufactures gelatin and collagen, ingredients used in food, medicine, and supplements. That manufacturing process produces large amounts of contaminated wastewater containing proteins, fats, and ammonia, a substance categorized as a toxic pollutant.
According to an Iowa Department of Natural Resources sampling inspection from March 2025, the plant was processing nearly double its design capacity. Before the upgrade, the Iowa State lab documented black water in the Missouri River near the facility’s discharge site. The Iowa DNR found Gelita had exceeded ammonia limits multiple times.
The report said that at the outfall to the Missouri River, Iowa DNR Tom Ross observed that the effluent had a black coloration. Roos requested additional testing at this location.
“Following the inspection, the discharge location on the Missouri River was visited. During the visit, the effluent at the river appeared to be a dark color, much different then the effluent observed at the treatment facility. It was explained during the visit, the color of the discharge to the river was a violation of 567-61.3(2) ‘c’, lowa Administrative Code, which states that all surface waters shall be free from materials attributable to wastewater discharges or agricultural practices producing objectionable color, odor, or other aesthetically objectionable conditions.”
Jeff Tolsma, General Manager of Gelita USA, said the upgrade was the result of an extended dialogue with regulators and upgraded technology.
The new facility includes ultraviolet disinfection, a feature the old plant did not have. The UV light treatment damages the DNA of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms before discharge, improving the company’s compliance with Iowa DNR standards.
Company, regulators call it a turning point
“We met with the EPA and the Iowa DNR probably 18 months, two years ago. It’s been a long dialogue with them, but they were great partners, great to work with,” Tolsma said. “And this wastewater treatment plant allows us to basically meet those new regulations that have been put in place. I think what is significant is that this actually brings us forward from a compliance standpoint for a long-term sustainable operation.”
The Iowa DNR said it will continue monitoring the facility to ensure ongoing compliance.
Gelita USA has operated in the Siouxland area for approximately 30 years and employs around 200 people.
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Copyright 2026 KTIV. All rights reserved.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Andrew McKeever is hard to miss at an Iowa practice. The St. Mary’s transfer and center stands 7 feet, 3 inches tall and averaged 8.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game last season.
‘Nothing like I’ve seen in practice’
Teammates have taken notice of McKeever’s size. Forward Trey Thompson said the center’s hands alone drew a reaction.
“Yeah, he’s big. That’s for sure. I saw him looking at his phone and it looked like a tiny, little iPod in his hand. I was like, ‘Geez, man,’” Thompson said.
Forward Joey Matteoni said McKeever’s presence in the paint stands apart from what he has seen in recent seasons.
“He controls the paint for sure and nothing like I’ve seen in practice the last couple of years. No offense to Cam (Manyawu), but I mean 7′3” is just different,” Matteoni said.
McKeever on why Iowa made sense
McKeever said the decision to transfer to Iowa was straightforward.
“It was a pretty obvious choice for me,” McKeever said. “Their team was so good last year, making an Elite 8 run. I was maybe a key piece that they needed with a little bit more size, even though their bigs were good, but they just didn’t have the height as some of the other teams did in the Big Ten. So I figured I could help in that way.”
From baseball to basketball
McKeever was not always a basketball player. He stood around 6 feet, 2 inches early in high school before a significant growth spurt changed his trajectory.
“I was like 6′2” during COVID and then I grew to 6′10″ when I was out of COVID. I was playing baseball at the time, and I was like, yeah, I got to go to basketball. I locked in during my sophomore season,” McKeever said.
His high school coach pushed him to make the switch permanent.
“My high school coach who I had been with growing up said, ‘You need to stop playing baseball and just focus on basketball.’ That’s kind of when it flipped the switch for me,” McKeever said.
Adjusting to his own size
Even after committing to basketball, McKeever said adapting to his own frame took time.
“Maybe a little uncoordinated and slow for my size. But I kind of worked on it a lot when I was at St. Mary’s and I got better at it,” McKeever said.
McKeever now joins Iowa’s program under head coach Ben McCollum.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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