Cassius Winston's 23 Points Lead No. 6 Michigan State Past No. 19 Iowa

The No. 6 Michigan State Spartans maintained their spot atop the Big Ten and moved to 9-0 in conference play Thursday with an 82-67 victory over the No. 19 Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Michigan State is now 18-2 overall and hasn't lost a game since November, while Iowa fell to 16-4 overall and 5-4 in the conference. The Hawkeyes saw their five-game winning streak come to an end after climbing into the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll.

Cassius Winston (23 points and seven assists) and Nick Ward (21 points and 10 rebounds) led the way for the visitors, while Luka Garza countered with 20 points for Iowa.

Michigan State Nation's Best Under-the-Radar Championship Contender

There are a number of teams making national headlines this college basketball season, including Duke with its trio of top-flight NBA prospects in Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish.

Tennessee has also captured attention as it rose to the top of the Associated Press Poll and is occupying the role of SEC powerhouse usually reserved for Kentucky, while Virginia's battle to put its shocking NCAA tournament loss to No. 16 seed UMBC in the rearview mirror and establish itself as a contender has also drawn headlines.

Meanwhile, Michigan State is quietly playing some of the best basketball in the country and is once again a Final Four threat under head coach Tom Izzo.

Ken Pomeroy's pace-adjusted numbers tell a story of just how balanced the Spartans are with the No. 4 offense and No. 6 defense in the country. Duke and Virginia are the only other teams in the top 10 of each ranking.

While Big Ten rival Michigan received plenty of love as the team in the conference that remained undefeated the longest, its offense is just 32nd and scored fewer than 60 points in its last two games. It is vulnerable if its defense struggles, while Michigan State can rely on either end of the floor to win games.

Winston and Ward carried the offense against the Hawkeyes, while the defense swarmed Iowa's shooters and held the home team to 38.6 percent shooting from field and 20.8 percent shooting from deep.

Michigan State can beat teams inside with Ward, who is a double-double threat every time he steps on the floor and is the ideal physical presence on the blocks for the grind of the Big Ten schedule. It can also turn outside with Winston, who can shoot from deep, attack the basket and facilitate for teammates when the defense collapses.

Perhaps the most dangerous thing about the Spartans is the fact that they are winning without Joshua Langford, who hasn't played since a Dec. 29 win over Northern Illinois.

His team is 7-0 without him, but he will eventually provide a veteran presence as a junior who is shooting 40.3 percent from three-point range. He can take advantage of openings when defenders double Ward on the blocks or cut off Winston's driving lanes and is the third-leading scorer on the team at 15 points a night.

Izzo did not provide a timetable for his return from his left foot injury but did note "we're starting to see a little progress here," per Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press.

Come tournament time, Michigan State figures to have its trio in place and be battle-tested from a long season in the Big Ten. Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com had 10 teams from the conference in his latest Bracketology, which is the most of any league.

The Spartans also have a coach with championship pedigree leading the way, as Izzo has seven Final Fours, a national title, eight Big Ten regular-season crowns and five Big Ten tournament crowns on his resume.

Don't be surprised if he adds to those totals in March.

What's Next? 

Both teams continue their Big Ten slates with road games on Sunday. Michigan State plays Purdue, while Iowa faces Minnesota.