Hoops: PSU offense suffers another second-half setback in loss to Iowa
With 12:17 on the clock in the second half, Myreon Jones knocked down a 3-pointer, pushing Penn State into a 54-54 deadlock with No. 11 Iowa with 12:17 to go.
To that point, the Nittany Lions had played well on both ends. They were in the game — as they always seem to be — with the game entering its closing stages.
Exactly six minutes passed until the Nittany Lions scored again, via the free throw line. They scored their next field goal seven minutes and 39 seconds later, another Jones triple.
By then, the score was 67-61 in favor of the Hawkeyes (17-6, 11-5) — plenty of cushion for them to hold off the Nittany Lions and hand them their fourth-straight defeat, 74-68.
“In this game, I don’t think we took bad shots,” Penn State (7-12, 4-11) interim head coach Jim Ferry said postgame. “I just think we didn’t make them.”
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Such a scoring drought would be remarkable if it wasn’t so common for the Nittany Linos — at least recently.
Against Ohio State, they went 4:31 without a point during a stretch in the second half. Against Nebraska, they endured two periods of more than four minutes without a field goal. Against Michigan State, they didn’t score for the final 3:16 of the game.
All of those games were there for the taking, and Penn State has come away from them 0-4.
“Listen, we’re frustrated too,” Ferry said. “Our guys are really frustrated. That’s my concern is my guys. I’m really not that concerned about people on the outside who I don’t see in the gym every single day. It’s not going to change — it’s not like all of a sudden, I’m going to put this kid in, I’m going to put that kid in.
“This is the formula. We’re good enough to be in every single game. Right now, we haven’t finished them. And it’s frustrating for everybody.”
Ferry’s formula encountered a variable for the second straight game against the Hawkeyes in the form of foul trouble for John Harrar.
Harrar picked up his third foul with about 11 minutes left, forcing him to the bench for three minutes. Upon his return he promptly picked up a fourth foul, relegating him to the bench again and forcing Ferry to get creative with his minutes down the stretch as he tried to avoid fouling out.
Harrar was Penn State’s best bet on defense against practically unguardable Iowa big man Luka Garza, who scored 23 points on 8-16 shooting on his way to breaking Iowa’s career scoring record.
But Harrar’s absence was also key to Penn State’s second half scoring difficulties, according to Ferry.
“It was such a physical basketball game,” Ferry said. “Low-post defense, on both teams there could have been fouls called on every possession. It was really that physical.”
The difference, in Ferry’s view, was shooting.
After shooting 50 percent in the first half, the Nittany Lions made six field goals in the second half and finished the game at 35 percent. Iowa shot 45 percent and 40 percent from 3-point range — more than enough to make up for the 16 turnovers Penn State forced.
Jones — who was 3-15 from the field — and Izaiah Brockington were the leading scorers for the Nittany Lions, each with 11 points. Myles Dread was the only other Penn State player in double figures with 10.
For the Nittany Lions, it’s yet another opportunity to pass by, but Ferry insists his team's will is still there.
“There’s guys certainly haven’t put their heads down like they’re done,” Ferry said. “It’s every day they’re coming out, and that’s why it’s frustrating because they’re playing so hard, they’re working so hard, they’re giving it everything they’ve got. And we’re going to continue to.”
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