Iowa Handles Penn State

Story posted February 16, 2014 in CommRadio, Sports by Josiah Bates

No.16 Iowa defeated Penn State 82-70 on Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center to claim its fourth straight road victory, the longest such streak for the Hawkeyes since the 1998 season.

Senior forward Melsahn Basabe paced Iowa (19-6, 8-4 B1G) with 16 points.

Penn State (13-13, 4-9 B1G) was in the contest for most of the night, but good second half three point and free throw shooting by Iowa, matched with some cold shooting from Penn State, helped the Hawkeyes pull away.

“That’s a veteran team,” said Penn State coach Pat Chambers. “Those players have bought in to Iowa basketball. There’s no egos, there’s no selfishness out there.”

Penn State junior guard D.J. Newbill led all scorers with 22 points, while senior guard Tim Frazier scored just 11 points on 4 of 17 shooting.

“You have nights like this,” said Chambers. “We need [Frazier’s] production. If he doesn’t get his average it’s tough on us.”

Junior guard John Johnson had 11 points off the bench and junior forward Ross Travis logged ten points and six rebounds.

Iowa had six players score at least seven points in the game. The Hawkeyes also shot 50% from the three point line and 48% from the field in the second half.  

Sophomore point guard Mike Gesell had 13 points, 7 assists and hit four treys.

Penn State was looking to make another late run in the second half, much like it did against Indiana when the Lions were down by ten with just under two minutes remaining. However, late game fouling didn’t affect Iowa as it converted on 26 of 30 second half free throws.

“We just kept our attacking mentality,” said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. “They called some fouls and next thing you know we’re at the foul line.”

Penn State had a 33-31 lead at the end of the first half and shot 46% from the floor. The Lions ended the half on a 12-2 run culminated by a Newbill layup.

After shooting just 35% in the first half, Iowa began to find its way in the paint and either get to the free throw line or convert on open three pointers.

With just under 13 minutes left, the game was tied at 44 and the Hawkeyes went on a 14-4 run to take a ten point lead with seven minutes to go.

The Lions continued to battle as Johnson would help get Penn State to within five with four minutes left.

The Hawkeyes countered with a few free throws and a three pointer to go up by 11.

Penn State began to intentionally foul hoping for some missed free throws, but the Hawkeyes were not rattled as they made nine of their last ten free throws with less than two minutes remaining to secure the victory.

Penn State travels to Nebraska on Thursday and Iowa takes on Ohio State in Columbus on Tuesday in each team’s next contest.

Josiah Bates is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jnb5278@psu.edu.

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)