[bears9]

It was one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Iowa was 0-3 in the Big Ten and 6-9 overall, and was coming off a 31-point loss to Ohio State. It looked like easy pickings for then-No. 6 Michigan State back on Jan. 12.

But the Hawkeyes stunned the Spartans 43-36 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Now Iowa (12-15, 5-9) may have to reap the payback from that upset. The Hawkeyes head into the hornets’ nest Saturday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich., a place the Hawkeyes haven’t won since 1993.

“It seems to me, if you walk into a hornets’ nest, it’d be hard to Raid them,” Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. “They are a terrific team, they have a great environment. If you can focus on the task at hand, not the surroundings and not even necessarily the opponent, just the task at hand, that helps tremendously.

hawk central | Hawkeye Basketball, Men's