What Iowa head coach Ben McCollum had to say about Michigan State loss

Ben McCollum is the hot new name in the Big Ten this year. After a long track record of success at Northwest Missouri State and, recently, Drake, McCollum was hired by Iowa to replace long-time head coach Fran McCaffery. His early tenure with the Hawkeyes was off to a great run as he led Iowa to a 7-0 start. That was until he came to the Breslin Center for the start of Big Ten play.

Michigan State was able to handle Iowa to the tune of 71-52 at home. After the game, McCollum addressed the loss and gave his thoughts about MSU, and you can see what he had to say below:

• "This was great for us. Sometimes, as you're building, it was good that we played MSU the first game. Understanding the league, a good environment to be in. We will get shockingly better."

• "We are an infant program still. We are not going to pout about this. This is a good thing because you can learn and grow, and use it the right way. Not 'oh, we can't beat them.'"

• "We did not concentrate enough. I don't think the atmosphere got us, we just did not play well. Offensively, we were inept. And part of that is on them (MSU's defense)."

• "When we took this program over, we knew it would be a tough takeover. Last season, we did not get beaten by this amount, but we also did not go to Michigan State. There are certain things MSU did that we just cannot beat."

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: What Iowa head coach Ben McCollum had to say about Michigan State loss