National Basketball Association
Penn St. 67, Iowa 58
When: 2:25 PM ET, Thursday, March 12, 2015
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Officials:
# Bill Ek, # Lamont Simpson, # Paul Szelc
Attendance:
16028
By SportsDirect Inc.
Penn State 67, Iowa 58: D.J. Newbill had 18 points and six rebounds while Ross Travis added 17 points and seven boards as the Nittany Lions upset the Hawkeyes in second-round action at the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.
Geno Thorpe pitched in 11 points for No. 13 seed Penn State (18-15), which has won three straight after dropping eight of its previous nine. The Nittany Lions held Iowa to a season-worst 26.3 percent from the field and will face No. 4 seed Purdue in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Aaron White tallied 21 points and 13 rebounds as the fifth-seeded Hawkeyes (21-11) shot 3-of-15 beyond the arc and fell to a double-digit seed in their opening game of the Big Ten tournament for the second straight year after losing to No. 11 seed Northwestern in the first round last season. Jarrod Uthoff contributed 17 points, seven boards and three blocks to complement White’s fourth double-double.
After Newbill knocked down a 3-pointer with 11:49 left in the first half, Iowa held Penn State without a field goal for more than nine minutes en route to opening up a 21-13 lead late in the first half following a jumper from Uthoff. Mike Gesell’s three-point play early in the second half stretched the margin to 11 before the Hawkeyes suffered through an eight-minute field-goal drought, allowing the Nittany Lions to pull ahead 39-36 after seven straight points from Thorpe.
Newbill, who was held scoreless for the first 12-plus minutes of the second half, scored seven points in less than a minute and the lead grew to nine on a 3-pointer by Shep Garner with 6:05 remaining. Iowa closed within 58-56 with 1:45 to go following a pair of free throws from White, but Travis’ three-point play with 30 seconds remaining and Newbill’s breakaway dunk 11 seconds later put the Hawkeyes away.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Nittany Lions advanced to the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2011, when they lost in the title game to Ohio State. … Iowa, which closed the regular season with six straight wins, has lost its opening tournament game in seven of the last eight years. … Penn State, which set Big Ten tournament and school records with 16 blocks in Wednesday’s first-round win over Nebraska, turned away three shots on Thursday.
Top Game Performances
| Penn St. |
|
Iowa |
|
D.J. Newbill 18 |
Scoring |
Aaron White 21 |
|
Geno Thorpe 3 |
Assists |
Mike Gesell 5 |
|
Ross Travis 7 |
Rebounds |
Aaron White 13 |
|
Ross Travis 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Aaron White 10 |
|
Geno Thorpe 6 |
Steals |
Jarrod Uthoff 1 |
|
Jordan Dickerson 2 |
Blocks |
Gabriel Olaseni 5 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Penn St.
|
67 |
39.3 |
6-15 |
17-24 |
11 |
30 |
3 |
9 |
8 |
| Iowa
|
58 |
26.3 |
3-15 |
25-31 |
9 |
37 |
8 |
2 |
12 |
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