Jan. 16, 2010
IOWA CITY, IOWA, Jan. 16, 2010 - The Nittany Lion basketball team (8-9; 0-5 Big Ten) got 31 points and seven rebounds from Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) and took as much as an 11-point first half lead, but saw Iowa (7-11; 1-4 Big Ten) use a 36-13 run over the middle 16 minutes to seize control of the game and take a 67-64 victory Saturday in Iowa City.
Penn State remained winless at Iowa since 2001, falling for the eighth straight time in Iowa City as the Hawkeyes claimed their first Big Ten win of the season behind 20 points and 10 rebounds from Aaron Fuller. Battle led a Penn State team, which started the day hitting nine of its first 15 to jump to the lead, but struggled from the field the rest of the day. Battle posted his third 30-point outing of the year scoring Penn State's last 15 points as the Lions mounted a late rally to come from 12 down to within one late.
Battle became just the fourth player in Nittany Lion history and the first since Monroe Brown and Freddie Barnes in 1992 to reach 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists for their career. Following Saturday's action Battle stands 14th all-time in scoring with (1,264) points and has (405) rebounds and (348) assists (10th all-time). He passed Brown (1,244) and current assistant coach Dan Earl (1,256) in career scoring on the day.
Penn State saw its longest losing skid since 2007-08 grow to five games and fell to 0-5 in the Big Ten, its worst conference start since opening 0-10 in 2003, the Lions last season under coach Jerry Dunn.
For the third-straight game, Penn State let a significant lead evaporate and could not recover. After going up 11, 22-11, with 7:41 to play in the first half, the Lions saw Iowa outscore them 36-13 over the next 16 minutes of play and seize a 12-point lead with a 23-point reversal of the scoreboard.
Leading 31-28 at the half, Iowa built a 47-35 lead, its largest of the game, with 12:15 to play with a 16-7 run to start the second 20 minutes. Threes from Matt Gatens and Devan Bawinkle provided the biggest blows.
A Battle three and a post score from Jackson cut the margin to seven, and the Lions then got within five, 49-44, when Battle fed Jackson for a lay-up. Jackson scored eight points over a six-minute span as Penn State clawed its way back into the game.
Iowa rebuilt its lead to nine, but Penn State put together a 6-0 run culminated by a Battle steal and three-point play after he was fouled on a lay-up by Fuller. Penn State trailed, 63-60, with 6:37 left. Fuller responded with a three-point play of his own on a drive to the hole and Gatens hit a pair of free throws as Iowa rebuilt the lead to 59-50 with 3:55 left.
Battle took over the Penn State offense scoring on driving lay-ups and at the free throw line as Penn State mounted an 8-1 run and Iowa missed several chances at the foul line. Battle drove to the basket again and was fouled. He hit both at the line and the Lions trailed by just two, 60-58, with 1:09 to play. Eric May missed a three on the other end, but Andrew Jones was whistled for a foul among three Hawkeyes underneath the rim. Fuller hit one of two at the line and Iowa led, 61-58, with 40 seconds to play.
Penn State called timeout and set up another Battle drive that brought the Lions within one, 61-60, with 21 seconds remaining. Penn State fouled Cully Payne on the Iowa inbound and he hit both free throws to extend the lead to three. Battle again drove to the basket slashing to the rim to cut the lead to one again, 63-62, with nine seconds remaining.
Penn State set its press and appeared to be on the verge of getting a five second call on the inbound when the clock started inadvertently and the officials stopped play to reset the time. This time Iowa got the ball in bounds and Penn State was forced to foul, sending Gatens to the line where he hit a pair.
The Lions turned the ball over on their next possession and Penn State again fouled Gatens sending him to the line where he again drained two to extend the lead to 67-62. Battle drove again in the closing seconds and scored, but it was to little, to late.
After holding as much as an 11-point lead, Penn State found itself trailing 31-28 at the half after a complete reversal of fortune. The Nittany Lions began the half hitting 9-of-15 from the floor while Iowa struggled hitting just one field goal in the first 10 minutes of action and 3-of-16 as Penn State took a 22-11 lead. However, the Hawkeyes hit four straight during a 12-0 run and finished the half hitting eight of their last 11 while the Lions managed just two of their final 10.
Battle led the Lions with 11 points and three rebounds in the half in which seven Lions scored.
A Cammeron Woodyard three and Battle lay-up off a steal capped a 7-0 run that gave Penn State a 17-6 lead 10 minutes in. A Bawinkel three ended the run with just the second field goal for Iowa with 9:54 to play.
Jeff Brooks completed a three-point play on a nice dish from Bill Edwards to rebuild the lead to 11 and after an Andrew Brommer bucket, Edwards put the Lions up 22-11 after a pretty spin move and reverse lay-up.
After a media timeout, Iowa found its range with back-to-back threes by Bawinkel and Gatens. Edwards got a steal and took off for what appeared to be an open lay-up, but freshman Eric May flew in from behind and swatted his lay-up away awakening the Carver-Hawkeye crowd.
Fuller, who led Iowa with 10 points in the half, drove to the basket on the other end and converted a three-point play after drawing the third foul on Andrew Ott. A three by May capped the 12-0 Iowa run and put the Hawkeyes up 25-24 with 2:40 to play. Battle answered with a three on the other end, ending a four-minute scoring drought for the Lions, but Jarryd Cole tied the game with a lay-up. Put-backs from Fuller and then Brommer as time expired in the half gave the Hawkeyes a three-point halftime lead as they beat the Lions on the glass in the closing minutes of the half.
Penn State will return to the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday when they take on Indiana in a nationally televised game on ESPN2. The game will tip off at 7:00 p.m. Penn State has won four-straight games vs. the Hoosiers, including a thrilling 61-58 victory last year at the Jordan Center.
Penn State season basketball tickets, PNC Bank Flex Book plans (10 tickets to use at any game for $99) or single game tickets can be purchased by visiting GoPSUsports.com, Ticketmaster or calling 814-865-5555. Single-game tickets for Nittany Lion games are $18 for lower bowl seating, $15 for upper bowl seating and $7/$5 for youth. Penn State also offers special group ticket rates (15 fans or more) of $10 for adults.