No. 21 Penn State men’s basketball (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) beat No. 23 Iowa (10-4, 1-2 Big Ten) 89-86 in an absolute nail-biter at the Palestra Saturday afternoon.

While Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins were both forced to deal with foul trouble throughout most of the game, the Nittany Lions did just enough to survive a talented Iowa team. Izaiah Brockington led Penn State with 23 points, while the Nittany Lions forced a total of 15 turnovers in the game.

Several timely buckets and massive stops down the stretch helped Pat Chambers’ squad earn its first victory of 2020 and improve to an impressive 12-2 on the season.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions won the tip, and Lamar Stevens got the scoring going with a free throw. Both sides traded three-pointers before Jamari Wheeler took it the length of the floor for a nice finish at the rim. The scoring continued on both ends, and the game was tied at 9-9 at the first media timeout.

A slippery spot on the floor caused players on both sides to slip right out of the timeout, and gave Stevens a wide open lane for an easy dunk. Ryan Kriener responded with a three for the Hawkeyes, but Curtis Jones Jr. shot back with a trey of his own. Izaiah Brockington followed that with a steal and score, but the game remained deadlocked at 19-19 with 10:43 remaining in the first half.

Penn State looked sluggish out of the second media timeout, as the Nittany Lions failed to score for more than three minutes and turned the ball over three times in five possessions. Iowa, on the other hand, went on a 4-0 scoring run. Seth Lundy (the freshman from Roman Catholic!) ended the drought with a nice jumper and a three to follow, and Penn State took a 24-23 lead.

The Nittany Lions pulled ahead with a three from Myles Dread and yet another strong finished inside from Stevens, forcing Fran McCaffery to take a timeout with 4:02 remaining. Myreon Jones forced yet another steal for Penn State out of the break, and Stevens jammed it home for an emphatic dunk on the other end.

Despite the Penn State scoring run, Luka Garza’s impressive play kept Iowa alive to close out the first half. The center finished with 15 points after 20 minutes and helped the Hawkeyes go on a 9-0 run, but the Nittany Lions held a 39-38 lead at halftime.

Both teams were scoring frenetically out of the break. The Hawkeyes opened things up with back-to-back threes, while Mike Watkins struggled to stop Garza inside. Three pretty finishes inside from Brockington kept the Nittany Lions on pace with Iowa in the opening minutes of the second half, while Watkins and Stevens were forced to the bench with three fouls each.

The wild pace continued into the media timeout, as Jones Jr. hit a three but Joe Wieskamp quickly responded with one of his own. Penn State held a 59-56 lead with 13:25 remaining in the game.

The Hawkeyes started to pick up some momentum after yet another Wieskamp three and more dominant play from Garza. Stevens picked up his fourth foul with 11:48 remaining, and his absence led to some offensive struggles for Pat Chambers’ squad and a 68-61 lead for Iowa with about ten minutes remaining.

The Nittany Lions scored just five points over the course of the next four minutes, but managed to trail Iowa just 72-66 with 6:45 remaining. Stevens finally checked back in, and five consecutive points from Jones Jr. helped Penn State to battle back. The Nittany Lions trailed by two points with 3:47 left in a humid Palestra.

Both sides traded the lead over the course of the next few minutes, but a Garza free throw tied the game at 79-79 inside of two minutes. Dread and Watkins followed that up with the play of the night, as the guard found the big man for the alley-oop and Penn State took an 81-79 lead with 1:24 left.

The Nittany Lions forced their 15th turnover of the night after the highlight reel play, and Stevens quickly finished with a basket inside. Iowa was forced to take a timeout down 83-79 with 41.9 seconds remaining.

Watkins committed his fifth foul of the night to send Joe Toussaint to the line and he converted both on Iowa’s next possession. Penn State followed that up with a massive stop on defense, and Dread closed out the game with six consecutive free throws. The Nittany Lions escaped with an 89-86 victory.

Takeaways

• Izaiah Brockington was without a doubt the MVP of this one. The sophomore guard led the Nittany Lions with 23 points and was a constant source of offense for Pat Chambers’ squad while Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins were forced to the bench with foul trouble early.
• Plenty of Penn State’s biggest baskets came off of turnovers. In fact, the Nittany Lions finished the afternoon with 15 forced turnovers, and scored a total of 20 points off of them. While there were plenty of moments where Penn State struggled to find a consistent source of offense, transition baskets off steals were a huge factor in how the squad stayed alive down the stretch.
• Lamar Stevens may have missed some key moments due to foul trouble, but two of his buckets down the stretch were arguably the biggest points of the night for Penn State.
• The Palestra is really, really hot. The amount of sweat on the floor and just general humidity in the gym was absolutely absurd.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will head to Piscataway to take on Rutgers on Tuesday, January 7. The game is yet to be scheduled for a live broadcast yet, and is set to tip off at 7 p.m.