After having a mid-week contest postponed against Minnesota, Penn State’s men’s basketball team returned to the court on Saturday afternoon at Iowa. But unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, playing away from home continued to be a largely unpleasant experience. Penn State couldn’t keep pace with the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second half and returned home to State College with a 68-51 loss in Big Ten play.
Jalen Pickett was the only Nittany Lion to score in double figures with 14 points, but he also had four of Penn State’s 17 turnovers in the game. Pickett also had a rough night form beyond the three-point line, sinking one out of six attempts.
After the game, head coach Micah Shrewsberry explained that Iowa was just tougher than his team.
“They really punished us on the glass in the second half and that’s when they’re tough to stop,” Shrewsberry said in his postgame comments. “They’re getting offensive rebounds, they’re getting easy baskets, they’re getting to the free throw line, now they’re getting going, threes get falling, and everything else. They were the tougher team tonight.”
This may have been one of the more disappointing losses suffered by Penn State this season. Penn State lost one other game by double digits this season, also on the road against Michigan State. But Penn State had been playing tougher than their display against the Hawkeyes would suggest.
Consider this one a setback, but Shrewsberry and his program have a chance to make up for it in their next game. Penn State visits Indiana on Wednesday, Jan. 26. The Nittany Lions previously topped Indiana, 61-58, back on Jan. 2.
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