March 11, 2006

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Michigan State

The Big Ten Tournament's (BTT) No. 2 seed is now 16-4, while the No. 6 seed now has an all-time record of 14-8. The BTT's lowest seeded teams (Nos. 6-11) have qualified for the finals on three previous occasions.  In 1999, 11th-seeded Illinois won its first three contests before losing to Michigan State in the title game. In 2001, No. 6 Iowa won four straight games to claim the BTT championship. In 2003, eighth-seeded Ohio State won its first three games before losing in the title game to Illinois.

MSU's record in BTT semifinal games is now 2-3.  Both times the Spartans won in the semifinals (1999 and 2000) they went on to victory in the championship game. State's all-time BTT record is 9-7. 

Michigan State was held scoreless for seven minutes and 39 seconds in the first half.  Shannon Brown's three-pointer at 12:22, gave the Spartans a 15-4 lead. MSU then missed nine shots and mixed in five turnovers until Brown hit another three-pointer at 4:43, giving Michigan State an 18-15 lead.

At 15:59 of the first half, Paul Davis' second free throw made him No. 1 on MSU's career list for free throw attempts.  Including his 11 attempts (9 made) today vs. Iowa, Davis has been at the line 624 times during his career, 10 more than the previous record holder, Steve Smith (614 from 1987-91).  Davis recorded a double-double in each of his three games vs. Iowa this season:  19 pts./12 rbs. in East Lansing; 17 pts./11 rbs. in Iowa City; and 13 pts./10 rbs. in Indianapolis. He has recorded 15 double-doubles this season, and has accomplished that feat 23 times in his last 47 Spartan games (26 times in his career).

The 101 total points scored in game eight (Iowa 53, MSU 48) matched the sixth fewest in BTT history.  The Spartans have been a participant in four of those six games.

Maurice Ager averaged 19 points-per-game during his three 2006 BTT contests, hitting 20 of his 43 attempts from the field. Shannon Brown made just 11 of the 40 shots he attempted from the field in BTT play, including only 3-of-13 from beyond the arc. Paul Davis averaged 13.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in his three games.

Michigan State holds a 56-48 advantage in its series against Iowa.

Iowa

Today marks Iowa's second-straight appearance in the semifinals where it now holds a record of 3-1 in the BTT. The Hawkeyes have recorded their fourth four-game winning streak for the season.  Iowa has played in two title games: in 2001 (vs. Indiana) and 2002 (vs. Ohio State).  This is the first time since 1988 that Iowa has won 24 games in a season (24-8).

Iowa and Connecticut are the only two teams in the nation with nine regular season wins over top 25 teams.

For the season Iowa has gone 6-0 wearing its gold uniforms.

Iowa trailed MSU at the half (22-25) and won for the second time this season when behind at the intermission (2-0.)

Iowa freshman Tony Freeman and Michigan State junior Shannon Brown are both from Maywood, Illinois.

Leading scorer Jeff Horner brings his career total to 1,475 points (380 for the season). His two assists bring his Iowa career record to 598.  In the 2006 BTT, he is shooting 8-of-15 from beyond the arc. Through seven all-time BTT games, he is 20-54 from three point range. Illinois' Cory Bradford holds the BTT records with 17 in a single tournament and was 35-78 for his career (1999-2002).

Senior forward Greg Brunner finished tonight with 12 points and five rebounds.  For his career he has 972 rebounds and 1,490 points.