After Wednesday’s 74-57 routing of a visiting Ohio State squad, Iowa men’s basketball looks to keep its momentum going on the road against Penn State on Saturday.
The Hawkeyes’ victory against the Buckeyes, where Ohio State’s leading scorer Bruce Thornton scored 10.4 points below his season average, was crucial on many levels.
Wednesday’s triumph, marked by 20 points by junior Alvaro Folgueiras and a 22-point effort from senior Bennett Stirtz, gave Iowa the 87-86 lead in the overall series between the two teams.
It also moved head coach Ben McCollum to second in program history for most wins by a first-year head coach, and widened the gap in the conference standings, giving the Hawkeyes a shot at a better seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Iowa is ranked eighth in the Big Ten right now, with Ohio State a spot below in ninth place. A win over Penn State, ranked last in the conference with a 2-15 Big Ten record, would nudge Iowa closer to a spot in the Big Dance.
With No. 3 Michigan looming, however, Iowa will still need a good outing to avoid a trap game.
“They’re a good basketball team, they’ve got a lot of talent,” McCollum said about Penn State at media availability on Feb. 27. “People forget, I think, they started the season 8-1, and were really, really playing well. They’ve got talent, they’re big and physical. Coach [Rhoades] has won a lot of games in his career.”
McCollum, whose 20 victories on the season place him behind only Dr. Tom Davis, who amassed 30 in the 1986-87 season, also stressed the importance of Iowa’s mentality on an away floor, with the Hawkeyes 3-6 on the road this season.
“We’ll find out once the game starts what kind of crowd they have,” McCollum said. “We need to continue to bring our own energy and be ready to go for ourselves.”
Penn State’s starting lineup includes two formidable guards in junior Freddie Dilione V and freshman Kayden Mingo, both averaging 13.9 points per game.
Meanwhile, Stirtz has nabbed an average of 20.7 points per game, as well as a 51.6 percent clip from the floor, the former of which makes him good for No. 19 in the nation.
The Hawkeyes have an 81.1 percent chance of victory over the Nittany Lions, per ESPN Analytics, but with only a slight lead in average points per game, 75.9-74.9, defense will be a crucial component of Saturday’s game.
This is especially true after Iowa’s last loss, an 84-71 stumble against Wisconsin on Feb. 22 that saw the Hawkeyes allow 54 percent field goal accuracy from the Badgers.
“I think there’s a heightened urgency,” McCollum said. “I think we’re trusting the defense again. I didn’t think we trusted it as much. You get to where you’re in such a scout mode that you forget about your basic fundamental principles, and I think some of that hit us pretty good, and we don’t have the athleticism to not be dialed into what we do.”
Iowa is set to tip off against Penn State on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CST, with coverage provided by the Big Ten Network, as well as the Hawkeye Radio Network.