UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –The Penn State men's basketball team returned home for the first time in 20 days with a flair for the dramatic, winning a wild 90-86 double-overtime thriller over Iowa Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Iowa's Keegan Murray tipped in the game-tying basket at the buzzer to force overtime with the score knotted at 66. It was Myles Dread who came up big in the first overtime period, nailing a game-tying triple with nine seconds left on the clock to help Penn State force double-overtime at 78-78.
Jalen Pickett scored Penn State's first five points of double-overtime before Penn State went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final seconds to secure the 90-86 victory over the Hawkeyes, the Nittany Lions' first double-overtime victory since 2016.
Five Nittany Lions scored in double figures, led by graduate student John Harrar's career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the season. Junior Seth Lundy also had a double-double with 17 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.
Seniors Greg Lee, Jalen Pickett and Myles Dread rounded out the double-digit scoring with 16, 13, and 12, respectively. All three were also just short of double-doubles, pulling down at least seven boards each in the well-rounded team effort.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After the visiting Hawkeyes scored the initial points of the game from the charity stripe, the Nittany Lions went on an 8-0 run offensively and held Iowa to an 0-for-6 clip from the field to take an 8-2 lead into the first media timeout.
- Penn State led by as much as 10, 15-5, in the hot start and maintained seven-point advantages at both the under-12 timeout and with 5:39 remaining before Iowa started to crawl back in the game.
- The Hawkeyes closed the half on a 14-3 run over the final five minutes, including four 3-pointers during that span, to take a 34-32 lead into the locker room.
- The Nittany Lions came out storming to start the second half, hitting four-straight field goals after starting 1-of-5 to outscore the Hawkeyes 11-5 and retake the lead, 43-39, at the under-16 media timeout.
- Penn State's defense shined as the Hawkeyes would go six-plus minutes without a field goal during a late second-half stretch. Iowa did, however, eventually answer back to get within four with a minute and a half to play.
- The final minute of regulation was thrilling, as Sam Sessoms hit a jumper to put the Nittany Lions up six with 1:11 left before Iowa raced down the floor and hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-possession game once again.
- An easy lay-up for the Hawkeyes off a turnover made it a one-point game with 13 seconds left. Sessoms made one free throw to put his team back up two before Iowa's Keegan Murray sent in the buzzer-beating tip-in to send the game to overtime.
- The first overtime went back and forth, with Iowa leading 78-75 with just 23.8 seconds remaining on the clock. Dread came down and hit a heavily-contested shot from beyond the arc with 9.9 seconds left on the clock to tie the game again and force a second overtime period.
- The Nittany Lions kept battling, as Pickett scored the first five points for Penn State to start the second overtime stanza. Iowa again got within one with 2:57 left before clutch rebounding and shooting from the charity stripe gave Penn State the victory.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State won its first double-overtime contest since the 2015-16 season when it beat Illinois (86-79) inside the Bryce Jordan Center (3/6/16).
- Five Nittany Lions hit double figures for the first time this season.
- Graduate student John Harrar notched his sixth double-double of the season and 12th of his career with a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds.
- With his 10 boards, Harrar surpassed the 700 career rebounds mark and now has owns 706 career boards.
- Junior Seth Lundy registered his first double-double of the season and second in his career with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
- Harrar and Lundy's double-doubles mark the first time two Nittany Lions recorded double-doubles in the same game since Mike Watkins (15 pts./11 reb.) and Lamar Stevens (15 pts./10 reb.) back on 12/19/19 against Maryland.
- Senior Greg Lee recorded his second double-digit performance in a Penn State uniform, with a season-best 16 points. Lee hit 800 career points during the game.
- Senior Myles Dread tied his season best with 12 points, including a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. He surpassed the 800 career points mark and now has 811 career points.
- Sophomore guard Dallion Johnson made his first career start.
- The Nittany Lions improve to 7-3 at home this season, and 72-32 inside the Bryce Jordan Center since the start of the 2015-16 season.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
Graduate student John Harrar and senior Myles Dread
UP NEXT
- Penn State returns to the road Saturday when the Nittany Lions travel to Madison to take on No. 11 Wisconsin at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.