No. 16 Penn State looks to knock off No. 18 Iowa
No. 16 Penn State (21-7, 11-6) vs. No. 18 Iowa (19-9, 10-7)
Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa; Saturday, 12 a.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 16 Penn State goes for its fifth straight win vs ranked opponents against No. 18 Iowa. Penn State’s last loss vs a ranked opponent came against the then-No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes 106-74 on Dec. 7, 2019. Iowa lost 78-70 at Michigan State on Tuesday.
PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE: Senior leadership has been on display for both teams this year. Luka Garza, Joe Wieskamp and Ryan Kriener have collectively accounted for 59 percent of Iowa’s scoring this season and 63 percent of the team’s points over its last five games. For Penn State, Lamar Stevens, Mike Watkins and Myreon Jones have scored 51 percent of the team’s points this season, including 67 percent of all Nittany Lions points over their last five.LIKEABLE LAMAR: Stevens has connected on 27.2 percent of the 81 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 4 of 15 over the last five games. He’s also made 73.2 percent of his free throws this season.
STREAK STATS: Iowa has won its last 12 home games, scoring an average of 81.9 points while giving up 65.9.
PASSING FOR POINTS: The Hawkeyes have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Nittany Lions. Iowa has an assist on 46 of 78 field goals (59 percent) over its past three contests while Penn State has assists on 30 of 65 field goals (46.2 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Penn State offense has recorded a turnover on only 16.5 percent of its possessions, which is the 30th-lowest rate in the nation. The Iowa defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 18.1 percent of all possessions (ranked 257th among Division I teams).