Heartache and a separated shoulder for Iowa Hawkeyes in 2-OT loss at Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — There’s normal losing, then there’s the cruel kind.

The Iowa men’s basketball team flew home with a heavy dose of cruelty after its 90-86 double-overtime loss to Penn State Monday night at Bryce Jordan Center.

The Hawkeyes tied the game in the last second of regulation on an amazing head’s-up play by Keegan Murray.

“Miraculous,” Penn State Coach Micah Shrewsberry called it. “It was unbelievable.”

“One of the most-incredible plays I’ve ever seen,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said about Murray tipping in the airballed 3-pointer Jordan Bohannon fired to tie the game at 66.

“Usually (Bohannon’s shot) goes in,” Murray said. “Unfortunately it didn’t, but I was just in the right place at the right time.”

It wasn’t a loss turned into a win, though. It was just a delayed defeat.

Iowa led the first overtime 78-75 with 23 seconds left after Ahron Ulis made his fourth and fifth free throws of the OT. But Penn State’s Myles Dread — his last name fit so well for Iowa in this case — canned a 3-pointer to tie the game with 9.7 seconds left, and Iowa’s Kris Murray missed a jumper that would have won it.

In the second OT, Penn State took the lead with 4:29 left and didn’t surrender it. Dread made two foul shots with a second left for a 4-point lead, preventing any more possible buzzer-beating heroics from the Hawkeyes.

The Hawkeyes dropped to 4-6 in the Big Ten with their second-straight loss, and this one surely will be hard to put behind them. Which they must, since they turn around and play at No. 16 Ohio State Thursday.

“That’s what’s fun about it,” Keegan Murray said. “That’s why I signed up to play in the Big Ten, to play great teams every single week.”

Sadly, the Hawkeyes will take on the Buckeyes without fifth-year senior Connor McCaffery, who had a night you could call Shakespearean.

Here was the player, having been told by many an anonymous half-wit online to stop shooting and worse after he went 0-for-3 from 3-point distance against Purdue last Thursday. He had scored a total of six points over his previous seven games.

McCaffery knocked down 4 of 6 threes in the first half for a season-high 12 points, and made three of those shots in the space of 88 seconds. He single-handedly took Iowa from a 30-25 deficit to a 34-32 halftime lead.

Late in the second half, though, McCaffery suffered a separated right shoulder and could only watch the two overtimes standing near his team’s sideline with the shoulder wrapped in ice.

“I tried to strip (Seth) Lundy on a fast break,” McCaffery said. “He just went up for a layup. I think it was like a freak thing. I think it was his knee. He kind of hit me right in the bicep.

The Hawkeyes went the other way down the court and McCaffery even was able to launch a 3-pointer, but he was in severe pain on his way back down the floor and the game was halted.

“I have some tests to do tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve never dislocated a shoulder before so I really don’t know what’s next.”

What he has done is have surgery on both hips. That happened last offseason. He also has been plagued by back and ankle issues in his career.

“I feel terrible for him,” said his father/coach. Fran McCaffery said Connor’s shoulder was back in place, and he’ll get an MRI Tuesday to “make sure there’s no permanent damage.

“He finally feels like he was in a good place and shooting it with confidence, driving it with confidence.

“Everybody seems to feel a lot better when he’s out there. He’s telling everybody where to go. There’s a level of toughness. … Hopefully we’ll get him back soon.”

In basketball practicalities, Iowa can ill afford to lose one of its most-experienced players. McCaffery also had 6 rebounds and 3 steals in his 16 minutes of playing time. Others will have slack to pick up in his absence, for however long it may be.

Murray has his own personal slack to pick up. For the second-straight game, he was called for a second foul in the game’s ninth minute and spent the rest of the half on the bench. His first points came early in the second half, and his first basket was with 8:02 left in the second half.

He had a game-high 21 points when it was over, but his team could have used a lot more of him in the first half.

“It sucks not getting in a rhythm offensively, defensively because of foul trouble,” Murray said. “I’m trying not to get in foul trouble in the first half, but things aren’t just going my way right now so I have to keep learning from it, trying to play without fouling as best I can the rest of the year.”

The Hawkeyes need more from Keegan Murray Thursday in Columbus. They’ll also need more from everyone else who plays.

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