By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – As of mid-afternoon on Wednesday, there were at least 2,000 tickets still available for Thursday’s top-20 showdown between Iowa and Michigan State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

To say that I was surprised by that number would be an understatement.

I was shocked and disappointed, because frankly, both teams deserve better.

Michigan State has won 20 consecutive Big Ten regular-season games dating back to last season, and that includes a 90-68 thumping of Iowa on Dec. 3^rd in East Lansing, Mich.

Tom Izzo is in his 24^th season as the Michigan State head coach and has shown incredible staying power and consistency with seven Final Four appearances and a national title in 2000.

Iowa has won five Big Ten games in a row after starting 0-3 in conference play and has already surpassed its overall and conference win totals from last season with records of 16-3 and 5-3.

Both teams also like to push the pace on offense and feature some of the conference’s top players, including Michigan State point guard Cassius Winston, Michigan State power forward Nick Ward and Iowa power forward Tyler Cook.

And yet despite all those positives, Thursday’s game still isn’t close to being a sellout, and that’s unfortunate because the Iowa players will need all the help they can get.

“It always helps, those games where we have the crowd into it,” said sophomore center Luka Garza. “It brings so much momentum and it’s tough for other teams to come in here and play against a crowd like Carver can be when it’s full.”

The student section should be close to full on Thursday, but thanks only to a UI promotion that will allow students in for free.

That same promotion will also allow for the general public to park for free on Thursday.

Cook was asked on Wednesday what his message would be to entice students to attend the game.

“It’s free,” Cook said.

Cook was sort of joking, but he brings up a good point because it isn’t often that UI students get to attend a top-20 matchup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for free.

The Iowa Athletic Department and those who market the team deserve credit for being pro-active for a change.

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Some fans have complained about the 6 p.m. tip-off being too early and the weather being too cold.

But fans also complain about 8 p.m. tip-offs being too late, especially for a school night.

And as far as the weather goes, it has a tendency to be cold in late January.

It seems that some fans are just looking for excuses to not attend Thursday’s game, which is certainly their business.

The game will also be televised by FoxSports1, so there is something to be said for watching in the comfort of home, especially for those who live a considerable distance from Iowa City.

Somebody reached out to me on Twitter after I posted that 2,000 tickets still remained and said that he lived in Des Moines and would have to take off most of the afternoon from work just to attend Thursday’s game, but that he couldn’t do that.

I get where that fan is coming from in that not everybody can work Thursday’s game into their schedule because life has to go on.

But I still assumed that Thursday’s game would be close to a sellout because this isn’t like football where you need 70,000 fans to fill Kinnick Stadium.

It only takes about 15,000 fans to fill Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and it’s happened many times before, although, not as much recently.

But if two top-20 teams playing in a pivotal Big Ten matchup at a reasonable time isn’t enough to fill Carver-Hawkeye Arena, then what will it take?

The weather on Thursday is even supposed to cooperate from a precipitation standpoint. It might be colder than Siberia, but it’s not supposed to snow, and remember, the game is played inside.

I’ve always assumed that winning is the one and only thing that will fill Carver-Hawkeye Arena on a regular basis, but that apparently isn’t the case anymore.

The arena certainly has its flaws from a structural standpoint, but those flaws mostly go unnoticed when it’s full and the fans are rocking.

“It makes a huge difference,” said senior forward Nicholas Baer. “When Carver is rocking, it’s one of the toughest places to play in all of basketball.”

The problem is that Carver can be sterile when it’s not full and rocking.

Iowa fans complain all the time about the atmosphere in Carver-Hawkeye-Arena, but some also choose to watch the games from home for the convenience and to save money.

And that is certainly their prerogative.

But how can Iowa overcome that if winning isn't the answer?

It made sense for fans to stay home last season when Iowa finished 4-14 in the conference and 14-19 overall.

But this is a new season with a new team and a new feeling.

The current Iowa team is showing signs that it could be special with 12 conference games remaining. It can score inside and on the perimeter, in transition and in half-court sets.

It has a bunch of capable 3-point shooters and a roster filled with guys with high character.

It’s hard to even think of the last Iowa basketball player to run afoul of the law.

And this team also plays defense at a pretty high level, unlike a year ago.

Combine all those things withy a raucous home crowd and the Spartans would maybe have their hands full on Thursday.

"Anytime this place has been full, it's, obviously, good for the home team," said Iowa cocah Fran McCaffery. "For us, we've responded over the years to a raucous Carver crowd. We appreciate it.

"I always talk about, sometimes, it's over break and it's not full, but it's still pretty impressive. We still get a bunch of people that come and support us. It was like that when we were up there. It was full and crazy, and that's the way it is. That's the way it was at Northwestern. It's the way it's going to be in a lot of places we go to from here. You want the same thing when they come to our place."

All the pieces finally are in place for Thursday’s game to be a sellout, or, at least close to a sellout, and yet, 2,000 tickets still were available as of Wednesday afternoon.

That just doesn’t make sense under the circumstances.

 

Iowa vs. Michigan State

When: Thursday, 6 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV: FS1

Records: Michigan State is 17-2 overall and 8-0 in the Big Ten; Iowa is 16-3 and 5-3.

Rankings: Michigan State is ranked sixth in the Associated Press poll and fifth in the Coaches poll; Iowa is ranked 19th and 21st, respectively, in those two polls.