Penn State came into Saturday’s matchup versus Iowa boasting a 2-15 Big Ten record. Iowa came off a double-digit win over Ohio State to secure its first 20-win season since 2022. And yet, the Hawkeyes had no answers for a flowing Nittany Lion offense in the 71-69 road loss.
Cooper Koch’s career-high 18 points and five threes weren’t enough to will Iowa to victory. Bennett Stirtz’s 16 points came on 6-of-15 shooting and 2-of-7 from deep along with five assists. Penn State’s Josh Reed, averaging 11 points on the season, logged a career-high 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting – 18 of those points coming in the second half.
Penn State went up 62-58 with 7:31 left before Iowa’s 9-0 run turned its four-point deficit to a five-point lead with 4:30 remaining. From there, the Hawkeyes went scoreless, and the Nittany Lions drew three-straight fouls leading to six points and a two-point Nittany Lion lead.
Stirtz’s contested layup with eight seconds left, and Iowa’s lone points in the final 4:30, knotted the score at 69 apiece. The following defensive position saw Isaia Howard trip and foul a driving Fred Dilione V, where he went to the line and knocked town two more foul shots for the lead with 1.5 seconds left. The Hawkeyes failed to get a shot up on its final possession.
The Hawkeyes could never extend its last past seven points all game long in large part due to allowing 64 percent shooting on defense – Penn State knocking down 25 of its 39 shot attempts – along with going 12-of-16 from the line.
Despite shooting 45 percent while giving up 57 percent shooting on defense in the first half, Iowa still held a 38-34 lead at halftime. There were four ties and eight lead changes through the first 20 minutes of the contest. And by the end of the game, there were eight ties and 15 lead changes.
The Nittany Lions’ 12-of-21 shooting included six made threes. As for the Hawkeyes, its 14-of-31 shooting featured 8-of-19 from deep and 10 assists – the 10-shot difference fueled by Iowa’s five offensive rebounds. Isaia Howard and Tavion Banks owned two offensive boards apiece.
Four of Iowa’s eight first half threes came from Koch. He went into the Penn State matchup shooting 23 percent over the last six contests, yet was unconscious right away hitting 4-of-5 three-point attempts for a career-high. It’s his third game this season with at least three made three-pointers and his first since Dec. 14, against Western Michigan.
Stirtz matched Koch’s 12 first half point total along with four assists. Six of Kael Combs’ eight points for the game were all of which were secured by the 14:30 first half marker. Penn State’s Fred Dilione V logged 13 points before halftime and was held there up until his game-sealing free throws.
Up next
Iowa will have its hands full for its last home game of the season with arguably its toughest opponent all year in No. 3 Michigan on Thursday, March 5. The Wolverines have lost just two games all year due to its deep roster – eight players averaging at least seven points a game and no player averaging more than 15 a game.
Thursday night’s matchup will be Iowa’s Senior Day. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on March 5 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and can be streamed on Peacock.