Big Ten assigns new date for postponed Iowa-Michigan State basketball game

Michigan State's basketball team returned to practice Monday after a COVID-19 hiatus, and the Big Ten Conference wasted little time in rescheduling the Spartans' postponed game against Iowa.

Michigan State will travel to Iowa on Tuesday (Feb. 2), with the tip time to be determined. Fox Sports 1 will air the game. That game was originally slated for Jan. 14, but the game was shelved the night before after the Spartans' had additional positive COVID-19 tests.

That takes care of one of the two postponed Iowa games; the Jan. 24 game against Nebraska has yet to be rescheduled as the Huskers remain on their own COVID-19 pause.

Seventh-ranked Iowa (12-3 overall, 6-2 Big Ten) now will have three games next week — Tuesday against the Spartans, Thursday at home against No. 15 Ohio State, then Sunday at Indiana.

The Hawkeyes are next in action Friday at Illinois, an 8 p.m. tip on FS1. The rescheduled game also means Iowa will face the Spartans twice in 12 days; it'll travel to East Lansing for a Feb. 13 game which has been set for a 1:30 p.m. national broadcast on Fox. Iowa hasn't beaten Michigan State since Jan. 14, 2016.