On Monday, Penn State ended a four-game losing streak when they defeated Ace Bailey and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Tonight, the Nittany Lions look to begin a new streak, a winning streak, against a 12-7 Iowa team that’s on a three-game skid of their own.
The Hawkeyes enter tonight’s matchup following a Tuesday home loss to Minnesota and back-to-back double-digit road losses on their trip to Southern California, where they played UCLA and USC. This Iowa team has not picked up a signature win on the season, with a 0-6 record against quad-one opponents. However, they are 5-0 against quad-two opponents, and a win over Penn State today would push them to a 6-0 quad-two record.
Unlike the Hawkeyes, the Nittany Lions have a marquee win over a Purdue squad that ranks in the top 12 in each of the AP Poll, KenPom, and Net Rankings. However, Coach Rhoades' squad also only has a singular quad-two win, a home win over Northwestern on January 2nd. A win over Iowa today would push Penn State to a 2-2 quad-two record, greatly strengthening their tournament resume.
Puff Johnson remains out for the Nittany Lions due to a wrist injury suffered in the loss to Michigan State. Nick Kern Jr. replaced Johnson in the starting lineup and gave the Nittany Lions 16 points and 6 rebounds on 100% shooting against Rutgers. Kern started 23 games for the Nittany Lions last year, averaging nearly nine points and four rebounds per game.
How to Watch - Penn State vs Iowa:
WHEN: 9:00 pm eastern time
WHERE: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
TELEVISION: Fox Sports 1
Series History
This is the 56th all-time meeting between the two programs, with Iowa owning a 34-21 record. Penn State has won three of the previous four matchups but has dropped three of the last four matchups in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The two teams split the head-to-head matchup last year.
