Penn State held a 14-point halftime lead, but a second-half surge by Iowa made things interesting as the Nittany Lions held off the Hawkeyes, winning 69-64.

After nearly posting a triple-double a week ago, Tim Frazier found himself in early foul trouble with two first-half fouls scoring only four points in 16 minutes of play. Senior Cammeron Woodyard picked up the slack, scoring 12 first-half points to help the Lions take a 38-24 halftime lead.

Jon Graham, who has had an up and down season scored, 10 points pulled down six rebounds on his way to a career night. With the loss of Billy Oliver due to complications with concussions, the emergence of Graham was a welcome sight for head coach Pat Chambers.

"It was huge for him," Chambers said. "That kind of performance can help all sorts of things. He was terrific."

Iowa was able to cut Penn State’s 16-point lead to nine with 15:00 left in the game behind forward Aaron White’s 16 points. The Nittany Lions traded baskets with the Hawkeyes until Iowa guard Matt Gatens caught fire, hitting five 3-pointers and bringing the lead down to 61-59 with 2:40 to go.

Frazier scored 14 second-half points and added four assists, which was good enough for the sixth season with 170 or more assists in Penn State history.

Graham had his first career double-figure game scoring, including two crucial free throws to put the Nittany Lions up 68-63 with 25 seconds left. Iowa couldn’t score on the ensuing possession, and a free throw by Woodyard put the game away.

Penn State will travel to Wisconsin on Sunday to take on the 17th-ranked Badgers in the penultimate regular season road game.

Notes:

• Jermaine Marshall has scored double-digits in six straight games.
• In the last six games Penn State has shot above 60 percent from the free throw line.

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