| PENN STATE (12-13, 3-9) vs. No. 4/6 IOWA (20-5, 11-2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Feb. 16, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State (12-13, 3-9 B1G) hosts No. 4/6 Iowa (20-5, 11-2 B1G) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Bryce Jordan Center, facing the Hawkeyes for the second time in a two-week span.
STORYLINES
- The Nittany Lions are looking for back-to-back victories over ranked opponents in the BJC after knocking off No. 22 Indiana, 68-63, in their last home game Feb. 6. The Hoosiers were held to 22 points below their season average of 85.0 points per game.
- Iowa has gone 2-1 since defeating Penn State in Iowa City Feb. 3 and is coming off a 75-71 win over Minnesota Sunday at home. The Hawkeyes lost to Indiana in the Hoosiers' first game following the loss to Penn State.
- Three Nittany Lions are scoring in double-figures: Brandon Taylor (16.5 ppg), Shep Garner (13.3) and Payton Banks (10.0) with Taylor controlling the boards (6.1) and Garner also leading in assists (3.1).
- Taylor has led the team in scoring 16 times this season, including in each of the last eight games.
PROMO PLANS
- KIDS EAT FREE Night!: Kids 12 and Under can choose three free items at the concession stand. Vouchers are available from Portal 17.
- Halftime: Student-athletes who achieved a grade-point average of 3.0 or greater during the fall semester will be recognized at halftime of the game Wednesday vs. Iowa. Some 517 of Penn State's over 800 student-athletes achieved that mark, including eight men's basketball players. The team will be represented by Mike Watkins during the halftime festivities.
- National Anthem Performance: Huntingdon Area Middle School Choir
GAMEDAY INFO
SCOUTING IOWA
- Iowa enters Happy Valley atop the Big Ten standings following its win over Minnesota on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes are No. 4 nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.67), No. 8 in fewest turnovers per game (9.8), No. 17 in turnover margin (+3.3). - Senior Jarrod Uthoff and junior Peter Jok are Iowa's top scorers. A national player of the year candidate, Uthoff is No. 2 in the Big Ten in scoring at18.8 points per game. He is also averaging a Big Ten-best 2.96 blocked shots per game. Jok is averaging 15.8 points.
- Both Uthoff and Jok are shooting 42 percent from three-point range this season. Iowa is second in the Big Ten at 80.3 points per game.
| PSU | STAT CATEGORY | IOWA | STAT | PSU LEADER | IOWA LEADER | ||
| 64.9 | Points Per Game | 80.3 | Points | Brandon Taylor: 16.5 | Jarrod Utoff: 18.8 | ||
| 68.9 | Opponent Points Per Game | 68.2 | Rebounds | Brandon Taylor: 6.1 | Adam Woodbury: 7.8 | ||
| 40.7 | Field-Goal Percentage | 46.2 | Assists | Shep Garner: 3.1 | Mike Gessell: 6.3 | ||
| 42.4 | Opponent FG Percentage | 40.7 | Blocks | Jordan Dickerson: 1.7 | Jarrod Utoff: 3.0 | ||
| 5.8 | 3-pointers Per Game | 8.6 | |||||
| 28.9 | 3-point FG Percentage | 39.4 | |||||
| 36.8 | Opponent 3-point FG % | 29.6 | |||||
| 68.8 | Free-Throw Percentage | 71.9 | |||||
| 34.8 | Rebounds Per Game | 38.4 | |||||
| 35.8 | Opponent Rebs Per Game | 37.6 | |||||
| 9.6 | Assists Per Game | 16.4 | |||||
| 11.2 | Turnovers Per Game | 9.8 | |||||
| 5.2 | Steals Per Game | 6.8 | |||||
| 4.3 | Blocks Per Game | 5.5 |
SERIES HISTORY
- Iowa holds a 28-14 advantage in the series vs. Penn State and has won seven of the last 10 meetings. Nine of the last 13 matchups have been decided by single-digits.
- The Hawkeyes took the last meeting in the BJC a season ago, an 81-77 overtime decision Feb. 28.
- Penn State's last win in the series awas a 67-58 victory in the second round of the 2015 Big Ten Tournament.
- Penn State is 5-9 all-time vs. teams ranked No. 6 in the USA Today poll at the time of meeting.
CURRENT ROSTER VS. IOWA
Eight current players have taken on the Hawkeyes, led by Garner's 10.3 points per game. Taylor led the team with a series-high 15 points on the road at Iowa in the first meeting of the season.
| PLAYER | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | SERIES HIGH |
| S. Garner | 2-2 | 10.3 | 2.3 | 17, vs IOWA (2/28/15) |
| B. Taylor | 6-5 | 7.2 | 4.8 | 15, at IOWA (2/3/16) |
| J. Dickerson | 2-0 | 3.5 | 4 | 5, vs IOWA (2/28/15) |
| D. Jack | 4-2 | 3.2 | 2 | 8, vs IOWA (2/15/14) |
| D. Foster | 5-2 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 3, 2x, last vs IOWA (3/12/15) |
| J. Moore | 2-0 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 8, at IOWA (2/3/16) |
| I. Washington | 1 | 2 | 1, at IOWA (2/3/16) | |
| P. Banks | 2-0 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 2, at IOWA (2/3/16) |
LAST TIME VS. THE HAWKEYES
IOWA CITY (Feb. 3, 2016) - Jarrod Uthoff scored 14 points and Adam Woodbury had a career-high 15 rebounds to help No. 5 Iowa roll past Penn State 73-49 on Wednesday night. Peter Jok scored 12 points and Anthony Clemmons had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Hawkeyes (18-4, 9-1 Big Ten), who won their 15th straight home game. Iowa shot 46 percent from the field and held Penn State to 30 percent shooting. Brandon Taylor had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Penn State (11-12, 2-8). Taylor shot 6 of 18 from the field. The Hawkeyes have won by double figures in eight of their nine conference wins.
NOTABLE GAMES IN THE SERIES
March 12, 2015 (PSU, 67-58): Penn State outscored Iowa 48-31 in the second half, shooting 54 percent in the period compared to Iowa's 22 percent showing. The Lions used 17-7 run to take 36-34 lead with 11:01 to play and did not trail for the remainder of the game. D.J. Newbill finished with 18 points for the 13th-seeded Nittany Lions.
Jan. 26, 2011 (PSU, 65-51): One of the two home games in the last eight not separated by five or fewer points was decided by Talor Battle's 23-point outing that gave Penn State its third-consecutive Big Ten home win.
March 27, 1995 (PSU, 67-64): Pete Lisicky nailed a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to send the Nittany Lions to the semifinals of the NIT.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions continue to alternate home/away games by traveling to Rutgers for a 1 p.m. Saturday matchup on ESPNU. They will then return to the Bryce Jordan Center for a rematch with Nebraska at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, also on ESPNU.