Penn State couldn’t overcome cold shooting, 17 turnovers and a bad second-half on the glass as Iowa pulled away from the Nittany Lions on Saturday in Iowa City to win 68-51, dropping Penn State two games below .500 in conference play.
The Nittany Lions hit the court with a bit of a boost following the return of leading scorer Seth Lundy who had missed the team’s trip to Ohio State and subsequent loss for an undisclosed medical reasons. Despite the return, Lundy struggled in his return to play going 3-for-11 from the field for just eight points. The game was Penn State’s first since that meeting with a Wednesday clash against Minnesota at the Bryce Jordan Center postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Gophers.
Penn State and Iowa fared little better than Lundy from the floor as the two teams shot well below 45% from the field, the Nittany Lions finishing out Saturday’s contest shooting 33% field while Iowa only managed a 41% clip. Seven of Penn State’s 17 makes came from beyond the arc.
Despite all of this, Penn State found itself trailing by just five at the break thanks in large part to a 22-10 rebounding advantage on the glass. Lundy would ultimately lead Penn State in first half scoring with six points but that fact paired with his own 2-for-7 shooting said plenty about the overall offensive success the Nittany Lions had on Saturday.
The second half was worse for Penn State, the Nittany Lions going from a +12 advantage on the glass to ending the game -3 after giving up a 27-12 margin to Iowa in the final 20 minutes of play. The Nittany Lions only had four turnovers in the second half but by the game’s end their 17 total turnovers would match the number of Penn State baskets made.
In spite of an absolutely horrid offensive showing plagued with missed shots and turnovers, Penn State still found itself trailing by just six with 7:04 to go in regulation but could never find the counterpunch to close the gap. John Harrar was held scoreless for the first time in 55 games, and held scoreless for just the second time in his career when attempting at least two shots.
The Nittany Lions would get no closer, Iowa going on a 15-5 run to finish out the game, aided by Penn State making just one basket in the final 5:19. Then again the Hawkeyes made just two in the final 8:32.
All told Penn State falls to 8-8 on the year with a road trip to Indiana up next. The good news for coach Micah Shrewsberry is that the Nittany Lions couldn’t shoot much worse or turn the ball over much more than they did on Saturday.
The bad news is that not doing any worse doesn’t mean they can’t do it again.
