A befuddling loss: Iowa men’s basketball team falls at last-place Penn State, 71-69

Editor’s note: This story was written in Iowa

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — There are bad losses, then there are bad losses.

And then there are BBBBAAAADDDD losses. This was that for the Iowa men’s basketball team.

On the cusp of essentially clinching a double-bye in the upcoming Big Ten Conference tournament, not to mention a spot in the NCAA tournament, the Hawkeyes instead suffered an inexplicable 71-69 loss Saturday afternoon to lowly Penn State at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.

Freddie Dilione V’s two free throws with 1.5 seconds left won the game for a PSU team that is 12-17 overall and dead last in the Big Ten with a now 3-15 conference record. After Bennett Stirtz tied things for Iowa at 69 via a driving shot with 8.6 left, Dilione V casually dribbled the ball up the court and tried to power his way through the right side of the lane.

Iowa’s Isaia Howard slipped and fell to the floor while trying to move with him, Dilione tripped over him and also fell to the floor. Foul.

After a timeout, the Hawkeyes (20-9, 10-8) didn’t come close to getting off a desperation shot before the buzzer. A befuddling couple of sequences, and an even more befuddling loss.

“Just kind of typical for the road for us on occasions,” Iowa Coach Ben McCollum said postgame on the Hawkeye Radio Network. “You know, I think it's interesting because when we were at Northwest Missouri State, we were number one in the league for, like, 12 straight seasons, and I was always fascinated by teams that would be in the middle of the pack. They would gear up for the best teams, and a lot of times it was us, and they end up losing by two or three or whatnot.

“But then they wouldn't completely gear up for the teams that were toward the bottom. And unfortunately right now, that's kind of what we're doing a little bit as a group. Not everyone individually but as a group.”

Penn State came into this game the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten, yet hit 9 of 15 here. The Nittany Lions shot 64.1 percent overall from the field, 72.2 in the second half.

Senior forward Josh Reed scored a career-high 25 points, virtually double his season average. Dilione V added 15.

Iowa did force 15 turnovers, converting them into 27 points. Cooper Koch had a career-high five 3-pointers and 18 points, a good sign for a guy who has struggled with his shot.

But Stirtz, who had 16 points, went just 6-of-15 from the field, as Penn State continually doubled him off screens.

“Definitely nice to see some go in, but I’d trade a zero-point game for a win any day,” Koch told the Hawkeye Radio Network. “They just kept getting downhill on us. They were making tough shots, and it was pulling our defense apart, which led them to get downhill, get to the free-throw line and spreading us out.”

Iowa led by four at halftime, and Koch hit an immediate 3 to begin the second half, but Penn State countered in a game that saw eight ties and 15 lead changes. The Hawkeyes used a 9-0 run capped by a Cam Manyawu dunk off a neat feed from Kael Combs to take a 67-62 lead with 4:30 to go.

But Iowa didn’t score again until Stirtz’s game-tying drive. The Hawkeyes went with a unique lineup down the stretch that included guard Brendan Hausen, who hadn’t played at all in his team’s previous three games.

“We didn't have a great group in there to be able to execute,” McCollum said. “I didn't think some of our guys were ready that we really needed in there, especially against the way they were covering us. Then it was difficult because we put guys in different positions, but the other ones weren't ready defensively. So we had to play the lineup that we had out there. Then it became difficult to score because they put a coverage on Bennett.”

Now it’s the final week of the Big Ten regular season. For Iowa, that means a home game Thursday night against third-ranked Michigan and a road game three days later at No. 12 Nebraska.

“Coach was obviously disappointed and upset with the loss, but we’ve got two great opportunities, two great teams, one at home, one on the road,” Koch told the Hawkeye Radio Network. “Chances to make up for it just like that.”

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