It was a little more than a week ago when Michigan State prepared to host Iowa at the Breslin Center. The Spartans were coming off a win on the road at Nebraska, but that followed a stretch of five games that included just one victory.
To say Michigan State was at a critical point in the season was an understatement. The preseason No. 1 team in the country had dropped all the way out of the rankings and had all but conceded a shot at winning a Big Ten championship, while there was still a scenario where it could play on Wednesday of the conference tournament as an 11-seed.