PSU Hoops puts 5 in double figures in thrilling 2OT win over Iowa
After a 17-point drubbing the last time Penn State and Iowa met in Iowa City, the Nittany Lions got off to a hot start in the Bryce Jordan Center on Monday and rode it through a wild double-overtime finish.
Back at home for the first time in 20 days, Penn State moved to 9-9 overall and 4-6 in conference play, holding on to upset the Hawkeyes 90-86 and split the season series.
The blue and white got whatever it wanted on the offensive end for the first 10 minutes of the contest. Penn State was shooting 57% from the floor at the under-12 mark while only turning it over twice in the stretch.
Seth Lundy had it working on both ends, skyrocketing to double figures on the offensive end in less than 15 minutes while helping keep Iowa’s Keegan Murray scoreless for the entire first half.
Payton Sandfort single handedly got the Hawkeyes back in rhythm with a five-point run of his own before a Micah Shrewsberry timeout.
Penn State held its lead until the two-minute mark, but Connor McCaffery drained 3-pointers on three straight possessions to give Iowa its first lead of the game.
The lead held, and the Hawkeyes went into the break with a 34-32 lead. They shot 43% from the field and 6-for-14 from deep, while Penn State fell to 45% from the field with 2-for-14 shooting from the arc.
Both teams went shot-for-shot out of the gates before Jalen Pickett put Penn State back in front with a 3-pointer. Things got a little chippy as John Harrar ripped down a couple of aggressive rebounds.
Then Murray drove to the lane and drew a charge off of Harrar, raising tensions and crowd noise even higher. Penn State held a three-point lead at the 15-minute mark.
The Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes traded jabs again over the next five minutes. A wild sequence continued for the rest of the second half, as there were 10 lead changes and six ties up to the six-minute mark.
Penn State grabbed a narrow four-point lead, but after the back-and-forth outbursts for both teams, there was a combined 3.5-minute scoring drought before the under-four break.
Shrewsberry’s squad locked down defensively down the stretch, narrowly protecting a four-point lead throughout the final three minutes and change. Iowa shot just 33.3% in the second half.
Sam Sessoms extended the lead with a layup, but Murray hit a deep 3 with just under a minute left before a timeout. Penn State couldn’t convert on the next possession, with Iowa forcing a shot-clock violation.
Patrick McCaffery converted an easy layup at the rim with 13 seconds left to cut the lead to 1 before intentional fouling started. Sessoms made the front end but missed the second to keep the lead at two.
Murray then put on his Superman cape.
Jordan Bohannon airmailed a game-winning 3-pointer, but Murray tipped it back up and in as the clock expired to send it to overtime.
Murray scored once again to take the first lead in extra time. Lundy nailed his second triple of the game to tie right back up, though.
Greg Lee made two free throws for Penn State’s first overtime lead, but Murray capitalized with second-chance points on the other end to flip it back to the Hawkeyes. Harrar made a pair of freebies to once again take a one-point lead.
Both teams missed on their next possessions. Jalen Pickett couldn’t convert at the rim, forcing Penn State to foul with just under 30 seconds remaining.
Ahron Ulis made both to give his Hawkeyes a three-point lead. However, Myles Dread came out of a timeout and hit an acrobatic 3 to once again tie it up with just 9.7 seconds left. Kris Murray couldn’t hit at the buzzer, forcing a second overtime.
Pickett converted an and-1 and then a circus jumper to give Penn State a three-point lead early in the second overtime.
Sessoms was called for a personal foul on what appeared to be an over the back on Ulis. Ulis hit both free throws, but Sessoms put the lead back to three with a pretty layup.
The Nittany Lions held the lead throughout most of the second overtime. Keegan Murray couldn’t convert with 10 seconds left, and Dread hit both free throws. Iowa missed again, and Lee hit one free throw to make the lead five, icing it for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State put five scorers in double figures on the night. Lundy, Harrar and Lee were all excellent in the contest. Pickett and Dread turned it on late in regulation and in both overtimes.
Lundy rode his hot first half to a double double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Harrar played bully ball all day to the tune of 19 points and 10 rebounds with just three fouls.
Lee played well all day with a number of clutch shots, scoring 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Pickett showed up when it mattered most on a relatively quiet day, scoring 13 points with all of them coming after halftime.
Dread was the man of the hour in extra time, hitting four clutch free throws on top of the clutch 3 to send it to a second overtime. He finished with 12 of his own despite 3-for-10 shooting.
Despite his ice-cold first half, Keegan Murray got right in the second half to finish with a spectacular night. On top of his game-saving play at the end of regulation, he put up 21 total points with six rebounds. The McCaffery brothers both found double figures as well.
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