Penn St. @ Iowa preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 4, 2020 ) Iowa 86, Penn St. 89

No. 17 Iowa looks to extend its home winning streak to 13 games when it hosts 14th-ranked Penn State on Saturday. The Hawkeyes, who are one of six teams with 10 or more Big Ten victories, are coming off a 78-70 setback to 24th-ranked Michigan State on Tuesday, and hope to bounce back by matching their longest winning run in Iowa City since the 2015-16 season.

Iowa has struggled against the Nittany Lions in recent years, dropping four of the last six meetings, including the last two matchups at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Penn State kept its Big Ten regular-season title hopes alive with a 65-64 victory over Rutgers on Wednesday to move within two games of No. 8 Maryland at the top of the conference standings. The Nittany Lions had led by as many as 18 points before escaping with a last-minute victory, and they aim to take another step towards securing a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament by sweeping the season series with the Hawkeyes. “The Big Ten is so good from top to bottom and it’s an incredible gauntlet,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers told reporters. “It’s so hard in this league … but the bottom line is we’ve won 21 games and 11 in the Big Ten.”

TIME: Noon ET. TV: Big Ten Network

ABOUT PENN STATE (21-7, 11-6 Big Ten): Izaiah Brockington scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down five rebounds to help the Nittany Lions register their most conference wins since finishing with 12 in 1995-96. Myles Dread added 11 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with under 30 seconds remaining in the game after Penn State had blown a double-digit lead in the second half. Lamar Stevens was limited to nine points to see his streak of games scoring in double figures end at 41 in a row, but he still became the program’s all-time leading scorer in Big Ten play after overtaking Talor Battle (1,209) with 1,217 points.

ABOUT IOWA (19-9, 10-7): Luka Garza scored a team-best 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds against Michigan State to record his 13th straight 20-point game in conference play, which matched the program record set by Fred Brown in 1971. Ryan Kriener added 18 points and seven rebounds while Connor McCaffery finished with 11 points and seven assists, but the Hawkeyes couldn’t hold onto a 10-point lead in the second half. CJ Fredrick, who is averaging 10.7 points, is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last three games with a sprained ankle.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Iowa has beaten six Top 25 opponents this season.

2. Penn State is 15-1 this season when it wins the rebounding battle.

3. McCaffery leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.54)

PREDICTION: Iowa 84, Penn State 79