No. 5 Iowa men crush Penn State 73-49
IOWA CITY, Iowa – On a night when the 2015 Iowa football team was honored for its record-breaking season, the Iowa men’s basketball team continued its spectacular journey.
The fifth-ranked Hawkeyes never trailed against Penn State while cruising to a 73-49 victory before an announced attendance of 12,596 on Wednesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa has won 11 of its last 12 games and improved to 18-4 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes are currently tied with Indiana for first place in the Big Ten and will play at Illinois on Sunday.
With Iowa leading Penn State 45-26 at halftime, the mood already was upbeat when members of the Iowa football team took the floor at halftime. They received a rousing ovation from the fans, especially consensus All-America cornerback Desmond King, who wore a new cowboy hat to the ceremony.
The football players were honored for finishing 12-2 this past season, for winning the Big Ten West Division and for playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 25 years.
As for the basketball game, Penn State never threatened in the second half and fell to 11-12 overall and 2-8 in the Big Ten. Iowa has won eight of the last 11 games against Penn State.
The Nittany Lions only made 1-of-20 shots from 3-point range, while Iowa made 6-of-17 treys.
Junior guard Peter Jok made a 3-point basket to expand Iowa’s lead to 60-34 with 10 minutes, 2 seconds left in the second half. Reserve forward Nicholas Baer also made a trey to give the Hawkeyes a 64-37 lead with 8:21 left to play.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery emptied his bench down the stretch with the lead comfortably in hand.
Senior forward Jarrod Uthoff led three Iowa players in double figures with 14 point. Jok and senior guard Anthony Clemmons finished with 12 points apiece.
Baer and fellow reserves Dom Uhl and Ahmad Wagner all scored eight points off the bench.
Senior center Adam Woodbury finished with a career-high 15 rebounds, including 10 in the first half.