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Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions travel to Iowa for first Big Ten game of season

By Barry Leonard Jr.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Head coach Patrick Chambers of the Penn State Nittany Lions yells from the sidelines against the Michigan State Spartans during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Verizon Center on March 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Head coach Patrick Chambers of the Penn State Nittany Lions yells from the sidelines against the Michigan State Spartans during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Verizon Center on March 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Penn State basketball will look for an important conference win at Iowa on Saturday. 

The Penn State Nittany Lions didn’t fare well in their first true road game of the season, but will look to improve things the second time around. The last time out Penn State fell at NC State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Up next is an important conference road game against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Penn State is 6-2 on the young season and has shown some signs of potential. A huge win over Pitt in the Legends Classic set the Nittany Lions up with a battle against their first ranked opponent of the year. They hung for a while with No. 16 Texas A&M, but ultimately fell short against the Aggies.

Head coach Patrick Chambers has spent his years in Happy Valley trying to build a contending basketball team. Over the past few seasons he’s been able to bring in some of the best recruits the Nittany Lions have ever had.

This year’s squad is loaded with talent, but needs to learn to put it all together and play with more consistency..

Penn State’s starting five is all averaging over 10 points a game, with Tony Carr leading the way. The sophomore guard has been a huge part of the offense, averaging 21.3 points a game. That mark is good enough to place him second in the Big Ten.

As a team, the Nittany Lions have improved their overall scoring. Last year Penn State averaged just over 71 points a game. This year that number has bumped up to 81.5.

Saturday’s matchup at Iowa appears to be a favorable one for Penn State thanks to the Hawkeyes ranking near the bottom of the conference with 74 points per game allowed. Iowa has struggled to a 4-3 record so far this season and enters the matchup with the Nittany Lions having lost three of its last four games.

The Hawkeyes don’t have a dynamic scorer, but have gotten balanced scoring this season from Jordan Bohannon (14.1 PPG), Tyler Cook (14.1 PPG), and Isaiah Moss (13.9 PPG).

The matchup in the game to watch will be under the boards between Iowa’s Luke Garza and Penn State’s Mike Watkins. Both players are averaging over seven rebounds a game.

Saturday’s game between the Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes will tip at 5:00 pm ET and will be shown live on the Big Ten Network.

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