In a game in which he shut down one of the best players in the country, Iowa’s Luka Garza in the second half, Xavier Tillman passed Matt Costello to become Michigan State basketball’s All-Time Leader in career blocks with 147 while helping lead the Spartans past the Hawkeyes 78-70.
Tillman had just recently passed a few other Spartans in Adreian Payne (141 blocks), Branden Dawson (142 blocks), and Nick Ward (143 blocks).
In this huge game against Iowa, Tillman only scored 6 points, but Izzo still pointed out his defense in the press conference and said he “was a man.” He had two blocks in the game and really just took Luka Garza out of the second half in one of the most impressive defensive performances of the year.
Fittingly, Tillman’s record-setting block came against Garza:
With 147 blocks Tillman is now number 40 in Big Ten history for career blocks.
It should also be noted that Tillman played this game with a new name on his back in “Tillman Sr.” after the birth of his son.
