Looking to snap its three-game losing skid, Penn State hosted Iowa at noon Saturday inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
A strong offensive performance from the starters propelled the Nittany Lions (12-17, 3-15) to a 71-69 upset over the Hawkeyes (20-10, 10-9), marking four straight home wins for the blue and white over their Big Ten foe.
How it happened
Penn State rolled with its typical starting five, but struggled to score early. Iowa mounted a narrow 9-7 advantage heading into the first media timeout, led by four points from Kael Combs.
The Hawkeyes extended their lead to 13-7 before Dom Stewart and Freddie Dilione V knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to level the score. Dilione added another triple — his third of the game — to give the Nittany Lions their first lead.
Iowa retook the lead off an eight-point run, but Kayden Mingo started to penetrate the paint and drew a pair of fouls, leading to four points from the line.
Trailing 24-23, the Nittany Lions allowed a pair of offensive rebounds, but the Hawkeyes missed all three shots from deep on the possession, including an air ball to close it out. With the visitors going cold from the floor, Penn State pulled ahead 30-27.
The lead was short-lived, as Cooper Koch drained his third deep ball of the afternoon to tie the game. Iowa went up 38-34 headed into halftime after a poorly managed final possession by the Nittany Lions turned into an easy transition bucket before the buzzer.
Instead of a barrage beyond the arc, Penn State pushed into the paint and found success in the second half, tying the game at 45-45, including four quick points from Josh Reed, who joined Dilione in double digits.
“(Reed) was the best player on the court for the whole game, and there were really good players on the court today,” Rhoades said. “I was super impressed watching him play. But I’m glad he was on my team today.”
With the Hawkeyes forced to respect the interior, shots opened up from deep, and Mingo hit a triple to give the Nittany Lions a 48-45 lead, which was quickly relinquished.
Tied at 51 apiece, Saša Ciani banked in a layup, marking Penn State’s first bench points of the contest. Consecutive turnovers allowed Iowa to pull ahead 56-53, but an Ivan Jurić put-back and two baskets from Reed made it 60-56 in favor of the home squad headed into the under-eight media timeout.
Turnover struggles persisted, and the Hawkeyes mounted a nine-point run, including an and-one from Koch who reached a season-high 18 points.
“That happens in every game,” Rhoades said. “There’s adversity … The turnovers were weak … we gotta be tougher in those situations.”
Looking for a late spark trailing 67-62, Reed knocked down four free throws to cut the lead to one point, giving him a career high. With under a minute to play, he cut underneath for a layup to give Penn State a 68-67 lead.
“It feels good. It feels really good,” Reed said. “It kind of shows us what we’re capable of. We’ve had flashes throughout the season.”
When the Hawkeyes couldn’t connect on the other end, they were forced to foul Melih Tunca, who added one point before a lane violation canceled the second shot.
Iowa’s season leader Bennett Stirtz drove to the hoop and laid it in to tie the game at 69-69 with under nine seconds, but Dilione was fouled on the other end of the court and made both shots for the victory.
“We played 40 minutes of good basketball,” Reed said. “We saw the result at the end. We felt really good winning the game like that. So just continuing to build off of that, continue to grow and take it into next week.”
Mingo left the court for the final minute of action, returning for the alma mater before heading back to the tunnel. Rhoades had no update on his status after the game.
Team leaders
Points: Josh Reed, 25
Assists: Josh Reed, 4
Rebounds: Ivan Jurić, 8
Up next: Penn State’s final home game of the season will come against Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
