The games against MSU were close, very tense, and mostly not what young people might expect, hearing about Ronnie and Magic. It was generally deliberate, half-court basketball. Heathcoate usually played a tightly packed zone against Iowa, mostly because they only had a 6/7 man rotation, but also because he didn't have the speed on the perimeter to match Iowa. MSU had tremendous speed and athleticism at the wings, but not at the point. Iowa finished in a 3-way tie with MSU and Purdue, the year MSU won a national championship (Ronnie's jr year).
The games that might have been the most fun for me to watch with Ronnie were when Iowa played OSU, which had an outstanding roster (Kelvin Ransey, Herb Williams, Clark Kellogg, Carter Scott, and Jim Smith were the starters) but never achieved was expected of them. Ronnie was at his best playing against Ransey and Scott, and they had some games that were really fun to watch.
The year after MSU's national championship, Heathcoate was so short on bodies that he refused to come out of a really packed zone, so Lute just held the ball most of the first half (no shot clock). I think the score was either 8-6 or 6-4 at half. Not an exciting game to be in the stands.
Great memories. Been a while since Iowa BB teams have given us many of those...