IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- When it comes to playing Iowa, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says getting the ball to Morris Peterson is a must.

"He's our key scorer and we've got to get him the ball. I think we did a pretty good job doing that tonight," Izzo said Saturday after the Spartans (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) whipped Iowa 75-53.

	Michigan State's Morris Peterson continued to be a thorn in the side of Kyle Galloway and his Iowa teammates.

Peterson scored 20 of his 29 points in the first half, Andre Hutson added 14 and Mateen Cleaves tied Michigan State's career assist record.

Michigan State also beat Iowa twice last season, with Peterson again leading the way with 27 points and 19 points.

"I felt real good," said Peterson, also led Michigan State with eight rebounds. "It was a big game for us."

First-year Iowa coach Steve Alford, whose Hawkeyes fell behind 11-0 and didn't make their first basket until the 15:21 mark, said Peterson ignited the Spartans.

"Morris Peterson is a terrific player and he got off to a great start. We didn't get off to a good start at the beginning of the game and he was able to capitalize on that," Alford said. "He's very hard to guard."

Cleaves, playing his second game after sitting out 10 weeks following surgery to his right foot, dished out three assists to tie the mark of 645 set by Scott Skiles from 1982-86.

Cleaves also scored three points in 20 minutes off the bench for the Spartans (11-4, 2-0 Big Ten), whose 20th consecutive conference victory tied Indiana (1952-53) for the fourth-longest streak in league history.

"We've got to get the ball to people to make things happen," Cleaves said. "I'm happy to win, but we need to take it one game at a time."

The victory over Iowa (7-6, 1-1) was Michigan State's sixth straight over the Hawkeyes, equaling its best run of the series (1977-80).

Peterson made four 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes as the Spartans charged to a 37-20 halftime lead.

Dean Oliver scored 21 points and Jacob Jaacks added 16 for Iowa, which fell victim to a suffocating defense that forced the Hawkeyes into a 5-of-24 shooting performance, or 20.8 percent, in the first half. Iowa.

The 20 points matched their season low set Dec. 28 against Drake and their overall point total was the lowest since a 72-58 loss to Stanford in the second game of the season.

Michigan State scored seven of the first eight points of the second half, including two straight baskets by Andre Hutson and a 3-pointer by Mike Chappell, to lead 44-21 with 18:08 to play.

Iowa, which hit just 9-of-21 free throws and shot 39 percent from the field last Wednesday in a 58-52 victory over Northwestern, again shot horribly. The Hawkeyes made just 18 of 33 free throws, or 54.5 percent, while sinking a season-low 16 field goals and shooting 28.1 percent from the field for the game.