Ward perfect, keys Spartans’ victory

Nick Ward made all 10 of his shots, scored a careerhigh 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead No. 10 Michigan State to a 90-68 win over No. 18 Iowa on Monday night in East Lansing, Mich.

The Spartans (7-2, 2-0 Big Ten) trailed for more than six minutes in the first half and were behind by as much as six points before a Ward-led surge gave them a 43-33 lead at halftime.

The Hawkeyes (6-2, 0-2) had no hope for a comeback because they missed 18 of 19 shots to open the second half.

Michigan State’s Xavier Tillman scored a careerhigh 14 points and had eight rebounds off the bench. Nick Goins scored 19, surpassing his combined points from the previous five games, and Joshua Langford added 14 for the Spartans.

Iowa’s Tyler Cook scored 15 points, Isaiah Moss had 13 points and Jordan Bohannon added 11.

The Hawkeyes, who came into the game averaging 82.6 points, made just 33 percent of their shots and allowed the Spartans connect on 52 percent their shots. to of

De’Andre Hunter and Kyle Guy scored 15 points each and No. 4 Virginia beat Morgan State 83-45 in Charlottesville, Va.

Nine different Cavaliers scored during a 24-6 firsthalf burst that turned a 23-14 lead into a 47-20 runaway.

Virginia (8-0) then kept the defensive clamps on the Bears, who didn’t make their third field goal of the second half until 1:57 remained.

Malik Miller and Victor Curry led the Bears (2-5) with seven points apiece. Morgan State was 5-for-28 (19.7 percent) from the field in the second half and missed all eight of its 3point tries. For the game, the Bears shot 14-for-54 (25.9 percent).

Virginia was sloppy early with six turnovers in the first 12 minutes, but shot well from the start.

The Cavaliers made 15 of 23 shots (65.2 percent) in the opening half, including 7 of 11 (63.6) from 3-point range.