After its loss to Michigan at Madison Square Garden last weekend, Penn State traveled to Iowa City as a heavy underdog to take on No. 5 Iowa. Penn State lost three straight games heading into this matchup and unsurprisingly, it couldn’t break the streak as it fell to Iowa 73-49.

How It Happened

The first half started with clumsy play by Penn State. Multiple Nittany Lion turnovers created opportunities for Iowa in the first ten minutes of play. On offense, the Hawkeyes gave the Nittany Lions trouble with their unselfish play. Six players had at least five points for the Hawkeyes, and the constant production helped keep their lead strong.

Brandon Taylor, Penn State’s leading scorer, was nonexistent for most of the half because of foul trouble. Taylor’s three fouls kept him on the bench for about 11 minutes and he could only account for two points on 1-for-7 shooting.

With Taylor on the bench, other players were forced to step up. Shep Garner, Julian Moore, and Davis Zemgulis each had six points, however the team couldn’t gain momentum. Penn State went into halftime trailing 45-26 and shooting 29.7 percent from the field.

Penn State looked a lot worse coming out of halftime. The Hawkeyes kept growing and there was nothing Penn State could do about it. Brandon Taylor was the only offense for the Nittany Lions to start. Taylor had six of the team’s nine points in the first 11 minutes of the half. The three-pointer wasn’t working for the Nittany Lions, as they shot 1-for-20 from three-point range.

Penn State could never get back into the game, and was out of it once Iowa took its first lead of the game. Iowa easily defeated Penn State in Iowa City 73-49. The Nittany Lions are now 11-12 on the season.

Player Of The Game

Brandon Taylor | Senior | Forward

For a team that didn’t perform well, Brandon Taylor was one of the only bright spots for the Nittany Lions. Despite shooting 7-for-20, Taylor ended the game as the team’s most consistent contributor. Taylor added another double-double to his solid Penn State career with 15 points and 11 rebounds against Iowa. Unfortunately, Taylor couldn’t do enough to get Penn State the win in Iowa City.

What’s Next?

Penn State comes back to Happy Valley to play No. 22 Indiana on February 6 at 8 p.m. before heading to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on Nebraska on February 13 at 6 p.m.