Penn State's Talor Battle rips Iowa again, this time in a winning effort

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State guard Talor Battle once again showed Iowa why he's one of the Big Ten's most consistent scoring guards.

And this time, he won.

Battle scored 23 points to lead the Nittany Lions (11-8, 4-4 Big Ten) to a 65-51 victory over the Hawkeyes (8-12, 1-7 Big Ten) Wednesday night at Bryce Jordan Center. The loss ended Iowa's two-game winning streak against Penn State and validated Battle's tenacity in a winning performance this time.

In Iowa's two consecutive victories against the Nittany Lions, Battle combined for 57 points. Two years ago in the regular-season finale at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Battle took over the game late and finished with 26 points in a double-overtime loss. That defeat likely cost the Nittany Lions an NCAA Tournament berth.

Last year Battle put up 31 in a losing effort also in Iowa City. Despite the dubious history his team had with Iowa, Battle, who now has 40 career 20-point games and is the Big Ten's second-leading scorer, said he harbored no special feelings toward the Hawkeyes. In fact, he was more excited to see Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery than dish out payback to the Hawkeyes.

Battle grew up in Albany, N.Y., and McCaffery coached Albany-based Siena for five years before moving to Iowa. It was the 10th time Battle scored at least 20 points this year.

"I know Fran really well so getting to talk to him, playing against him," Battle said. "I thought and kind of hoped that one day I'd get to go back and play at Siena against him. To play him here was a good thing, and I was excited about that."

Battle's pleasantries with McCaffery and the Hawkeyes ended quickly. Iowa took a 21-10 lead halfway through the first half and frustrated the Nittany Lions into six turnovers by that point. But Battle and forward Jeff Brooks fought back with composure and rallied Penn State on a 10-0 run to conclude the first half and take a 31-30 lead.

Despite scoring on only four of its first 13 second-half possessions, Iowa still was within striking distance at 42-39. Then Battle took over. He drilled a 3-pointer from beyond 25 feet to take Penn State's lead to six points with 11:59 left in the game. Four possessions later he converted a three-point play to extend the lead to nine.

"He has a scorer's mentality," Iowa point guard Bryce Cartwright said. "Even if he's not shooting well, he still has a scorer's mentality. We knew that coming in, and he had a good night."

But it wasn't all Battle. Brooks scored 22 points, including four 3-pointers. When Iowa cut its deficit to 50-45, Brooks drilled back-to-back 3-pointers that virtually sealed the win for Penn State.

"(Brooks is) real versatile, and he plays well off Battle," Iowa freshman guard Devyn Marble said. "Battle was getting him the ball, and they were getting him the ball, and he was filling in tonight. We weren't there on the catch, and he was killing us."

Inconsistency also plagued Iowa once again. Sophomore Eric May scored only three points and had two turnovers in 22 minutes, just one game removed from an 11-point performance. Freshman Melsahn Basabe scored four points and played just four minutes in the second half.

"Defensively (Basabe) was breaking down big time in the beginning portion," McCaffery said. "We were trying to get it figured out for him, and he was just struggling. They run a lot of stuff, a lot of decision-making has to happen pretty quickly, and he was struggling with it and we went with Brommer and Cole."

The loss kept the Hawkeyes from notching back-to-back Big Ten wins for the first time since the 2006-07 season in Steve Alford's final year as coach. McCaffery also earned his sixth technical foul this year. He argued with an official after freshman Zach McCabe was whistled for a charging call with 8:06 left in the first half. Iowa was leading 21-13 at that point.

Jarryd Cole led Iowa with 11 points. Penn State sank 53.2 percent of its shots, while Iowa shot just 37.3 percent from the field.