Mike Gesell  (Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)

Mike Gesell
(Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)

Mike Gessell poured in a career high 25 points as the Iowa Hawkeyes took down top ranked Michigan State 83-70 in their Big Ten opener.

The Hawkeyes raced out to a 14 point lead at the break and the Spartans never got closer than 10 in the second half as Iowa snapped a nine-game losing skid in the series.

“Anytime you beat a team of that caliber it feels great”, said Gessell. “We’ve had a lot of close games with them a lot of tough battles and have never been able to get them in my career but it feels good and we did a tremendous job of executing our game plan tonight.”

Peter Jok added 19 points as the Hawkeyes improve to 10-3. It was the first time since 1999 that Iowa has beaten the nation’s top ranked team and the first time it has ever happened at home.