Penn State Men's Basketball falls to 13-7 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten conference play. The Nittany Lions came up short Iowa in the final seconds with a final score of 75-76.
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FIRST HALF
Penn State and Iowa started the game in a shootout. The score was 38-43 in favor of the Hawkeyes. The three-point ball is what was biggest difference maker in the first half. Penn State shot 3-of-10 (30%) from three. Iowa on the other hand shot 5-of-11 (45.5%) from three. Overall the Nittany Lions made 51.9% of their shots from the field and Iowa made 50% of their shots both teams shot eight free throws as well, but Penn State went 7-of-8 compared to Iowa's 8-of-8.
SECOND HALF
Penn State came out hot and brought the game within three at 44-47. After that, Iowa went on a tear and had a ten-point lead. Penn State tried to slow the Hawkeyes down during that stretch but with Yanic Konan-Niederhäuser in foul trouble, Mike Rhoades called for a zone defense. The zone defense continued for a while but it did not seem to help for long as the Hawkeyes resorted to shooting the three ball. Konan-Niederhäuser returned back to the lineup at the 4:33 mark of the second half. Penn State was still trying to come back and proceeded to make 4-of-5 of their field goal to bring the game within six at 68-74.The game continued to go back and forth where Penn State proceeded to bring the game with one point at 75-76 at 52 second mark after Konan-Niederhäuser made two free throws. To this point, Penn State had not led the game since the score was 14-13.
FINAL SECONDS
With only a few seconds left Ace Baldwin Jr. missed a three to win the game. With time left, Zach Hicks chased down the ball for the rebound and chucks up a tough shot that missed. Iowa collected the rebound but immediately was fouled. The Hawkeyes were shooting a 1-and-1 and missed the first shot. Konan-Niederhäuser quickly rebounded and called a timeout. After the timeout, Penn State ran a play where Nick Kern Jr. inbounded to Freddie Dilione V with under three-seconds to go. Dilione V was as half court, took a few steps close to three-point line and took a shot. However, the game clock expired before the ball left the hand of Dilione V.
THE STATS....
Nick Kern Jr. continued his dominance in the starting lineup, leading the team with 18 points. Kern Jr. also added a team-high seven rebounds and two assists.
While not having the most efficient scoring night, Ace Baldwin Jr. led Penn State with seven assists. Baldwin Jr. also tallied seven points, two steals, and two rebounds.
While in foul trouble for the majority of the game, Yanic Konan-Niederhäuser contributed 13 points, four rebounds, two steals, one block, and one assist.
Freddie Dilione V finished the game with 10 points, a team-high seven rebounds, two steals and two assist despite shooting 0-of-5 from three.
Zach Hicks went 3-of-9 from three and finished with nine points, five rebounds, and two assists.
D'Marco Dunn added seven points, two rebounds and one steal in 18 minutes.
Kachi Nzeh added eight points and three rebounds in 12 minutes,
Miles Goodman contributed three points, three bounds and one block in 11 minutes,
Dominick Stewart played only three minutes and had one block.
Overall, the Nittany Lions shot 28-of-57 (49.1%) from the field, 5-of-22 (22.7%) from three, and 14-of-20 (70.0%) from the free throw line. Penn State also totaled 34 rebounds, 14 assists, three blocks, seven steals, 10 turnovers, and 16 fouls.
NEXT UP....
Penn State heads to Ann Arbor on Monday, January 27 at 6:30 p.m. to take on Michigan. The Wolverines are 14-5 on the season and 6-2 in conference play. MIchigan is coming off a 91-64 loss against Purdue on Friday. MIchigan's only other loss in the Big Ten was to Minnesota.
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