Penn State cruises past Iowa, 82-58
Sophomore forward Mike Watkins scored 19 points on 9-for-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the Penn State Nittany Lions cruised to an 82-58 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday night in Big Ten action at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Penn.
Forward Lamar Stevens had 17 points and four blocked shots for Penn State (16-9, 6-6 Big Ten), which earned its third win in the past four games and climbed to .500 in conference play. Guard Tony Carr finished with 16 points in the Nittany Lions’ most lopsided Big Ten win of the season.
Sophomore forward Tyler Cook scored a team-high 19 points and pulled down six rebounds in a losing effort. Freshman Luka Garza had 13 points despite 3-for-13 shooting from the field.
Iowa (12-13, 3-9) lost for the seventh time in the past 10 games. The Hawkeyes are in danger of finishing below .500 for the first time in seven years.
The score was even at 14 before Penn State went on a 33-12 run to go ahead 47-26 late in the first half. Watkins threw down a slam dunk to punctuate the run, which also included a pair of 3-pointers, a jump shot and a layup by Carr.
Iowa trailed by 19 points at halftime and never recovered. The Hawkeyes trailed by more than 20 points for the majority of the second half.
The Nittany Lions shot 54.7 percent (35 of 64) from the field, including 33.3 percent (5 of 15) from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes shot only 38.2 percent (21 of 55) from the field and connected on one of 10 attempts from 3-point range.
Penn State earned a 37-30 advantage on the glass and blocked six shots, compared with one block for Iowa. The Hawkeyes committed 13 turnovers, compared with 11 for the Nittany Lionss.
Penn State completed a regular-season sweep of Iowa. The Nittany Lions outlasted the Hawkeyes for a 77-73 road victory Dec. 2 in Iowa City.
--Field Level Media