Jan. 26, 2008
IOWA, CITY, IOWA, JAN. 26, 2008 - Penn State (10-9; 2-5 Big Ten) dug an early hole for itself with offensive struggles and could never get out as the Nittany Lions fell, 64-49, to Iowa (10-11; 3-5 Big Ten) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City Saturday night.
Penn State suffered its fifth straight loss and fell for the sixth straight time in Iowa City. Junior Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) made his first career start and led Penn State with a career high tying 17 points and three second half threes. Jamelle Cornley added 15 gutting out the second half after tweaking his injured left knee in the first half and Talor Battle 11 for a Nittany Lion team that shot 39 percent from the floor.
Iowa was led by freshman Jeff Peterson's 19 points. Freshman Jake Kelly added 11 and senior Seth Gorney 11. Peterson and Gorney both were perfect on the night from the field and the foul line, Peterson going 4-of-4 from the field and 9-of-9 from the line and Gorney going 3-of-3 and 4-of-4 including his first career three. Iowa shot 47 percent on the night.
Penn State played solid defense for the first 10 minutes of the game but struggled on offense eventually posting a season-low 17 first half points on 29 percent shooting and 2-of-7 from the free throw line. A late run closed as much as an 18-point first half Iowa lead to 12 at the half thanks to eight straight points from Pringle. The Hawkeyes eventually found the seams in the defense and hit 52.6 percent in the half.
It took the Nittany Lions four-and-a-half minutes to get on the board with a Jamelle Cornley jumper and they trailed Iowa 21-5 at the 7:44 media timeout after making just two field goals in the first 12 minutes and suffering a nearly six-minute scoring drought.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Justin Johnson and Jeff Peterson gave the Hawkeyes a 29-11 lead with 3:39 to play in the half. Pringle then converted a pair of nifty drives off the glass and finished the half with a high arcing fade-away from the right baseline as Penn State scored the last six points of the half to trail 29-17 after the first 20 minutes. Pringle led Penn State with eight points in the half while Talor Battle had a three and finished with five and Cornley had four. Johnson and Peterson led the Hawkeyes with nine and eight, respectively.
Penn State cut the lead to nine, 37-28, in the second half on a Battle drive with 14:07 to play, but would get no closer. A desperation Peterson three as the shot clock expired pushed the margin back to 14, 45-31, with 10:50 to play.
Penn State again cut into the lead, but a Gorney three made it 51-37 with 6:46 to play. Penn State never got the margin under 10 the rest of the way.
The Nittany Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center for a nationally televised clash with Ohio State Tuesday on ESPN "Super Tuesday." The game is set for a 7:00 p.m. tip with Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin and Erin Andrews calling the action as part of ESPN's "Student Spirit Week." Students are encouraged to reach the "Target 10" challenge in support of Penn State Dance Marathon as ESPN's cameras bring the event to a national audience. If 10,000 students fill the Jordan Center all student ticket sales for the Michigan State game will be donated to THON.
Tickets for Nittany Lion basketball can be purchased by visiting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office, calling 814-865-5555 or by clicking on the ticket link on www.GoPSUsports.com. Penn State offers discounts for groups of 15 or more. Any groups interested in purchasing single-game tickets should contact the ticket office at 814-863-6757.