Iowa City — The No. 1 team in the nation now is in last place in the Big Ten.
Michigan State, looking rattled and rusty, didn’t do much well at all in falling to Iowa, 83-70, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday night in the conference opener for both teams.
The loss is the first of the season for the Spartans (13-1), who were playing their second game without their star player, Denzel Valentine, who’s out another week or two following a knee scope.
MSU survived its first test without Valentine, in overtime against Oakland at The Palace last week, but was rarely competitive here, before a sellout crowd of gold-clad Hawkeyes fans.