Former Iowa basketball star shares Michigan State conspiracy theory

While Iowa basketball (17-5, 7-4) already played its lone regular-season matchup this year against No. 10 Michigan State (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten)—a 71-52 loss, in East Lansing, Mich., back on Dec. 2, 2025—that did not stop former Iowa legend and current Boston Celtics center Luka Garza from sharing a controversial theory on the Spartans' frequent second-half success at the Breslin Center against the Hawkeyes and many other teams.

On the Feb. 2 airing of the "White Noise Podcast with Derrick & Welsh" co-hosted by fellow Celtics teammate Derrick White, Garza suggested that Michigan State purposefully places a "bad rim" on the end Michigan State shoots from in the first half. As the teams switch ends to start the second half, the Spartans would suddenly have an offensive explosion with the "good rim" as their goal, while the opposition would struggle immensely.

"I think Michigan State purposely puts the basket that they're going to shoot on in the first half on that side on purpose," Garza said. "You have to swish it or it doesn't go in. I think they do it to themselves so they're down in the first half and then they come back in the second half.

"This is my conspiracy theory: it's the worst rim in college basketball. They only shoot on it in the first half, so the other team comes in in the second half and can't buy a bucket, and they always come back and win."

Luka Garza thinks Michigan State intentionally gives the road team the worst rim in the second half 👀

“This is my conspiracy theory… it’s the worst rim in college basketball. The other team comes in the second half and can’t buy a bucket.” pic.twitter.com/mF8N3bCKwW

— White Noise Podcast w/Derrick White (@whitenoisepod_) February 3, 2026

During Garza's four seasons at Iowa from 2017-21, the Hawkeyes were 1-2 at the Breslin Center, including an 88-58 blowout win over the Spartans in 2021. However, in those three games in East Lansing, Garza shot 1-for-10 with seven points in 2018, 8-for-21 with 20 points in 2020, and 3-for-11 with eight points in 2021.

Conversely, in his three matchups against Tom Izzo's Spartans from Iowa City, he shot 4-for-8 in 2018 with 17 points, 8-for-14 in 2019 with 20 points, and 9-for-18 in 2021 with 27 points, although two of those three Iowa games also ended in Hawkeye losses.

While his theory could very well be a small vendetta against Michigan State for his struggles at the Breslin Center, Garza is certainly not the only opponent to have similar theories about why the Spartans consistently make Herculean second-half comebacks at home.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Former Iowa basketball star shares Michigan State conspiracy theory