Penn State Men’s Basketball Game Grades vs. Iowa
Penn State’s losing streak extended to two games on Saturday following a 68-51 loss on the road against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The 17-point defeat was the largest deficit the Nittany Lions have had against a Big Ten opponent so far this season.
Here’s a look at how each position group performed during Saturday's loss.
Offense: D
Scoring 51 points on the road is not much to get excited about for the Penn State offense.
Despite the return of Seth Lundy, who missed the blue and white’s previous game against Ohio State, the Nittany Lions still shot just 33 percent from the field.
The Nittany Lions lone double-digit scorer was Jalen Pickett, who led the team with 14 points while taking 12 shots in the loss.
Aside from Pickett, the rest of the Nittany Lions’ lineup struggled, especially John Harrar who was a non-factor with zero points in 23 minutes of play, which is something he hasn’t done since January 2020 in a loss against Wisconsin.
The Nittany Lions will have some time to try and correct their offensive woes as they travel to Bloomington to take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Wednesday.
Defense: C+
Allowing 68 points against a talented Hawkeyes offense, while not great, isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Despite allowing four Hawkeyes’ to score in double figures on Saturday, the Penn State defense did a particularly good job on one of the best in the Iowa lineup.
Keegan Murray has gotten off to a great start to his sophomore season by averaging almost 23 points per game.
With the help of Lundy, who returned to the lineup, Murray was held to just 15 points on 12 shots.
While the rest of the night didn’t go great for the Penn State defense, having Lundy back to guard the opposing team's best wing player is certainly a positive.
Coaching: D-
Unlike most games the Nittany Lions have been a part of this season, it felt like the blue and white were out of this one from the jump.
The Hawkeyes found themselves on a big run early in the game, and with the Nittany Lions playing one of their most undisciplined games this season, they were able to keep the pounding going.
Penn State coughed the ball up 17 times in the game and fouled the Hawkeyes 18 times.
Harrar found himself in foul trouble with four fouls and two other Nittany Lions had three fouls during the game.
This was a tough road loss for Micah Shrewsberry’s crew and it should be interesting to see how the team bounces back against Indiana.
Logan Bourandas is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
