Penn State Basketball vs. Iowa tale of the tape
KenPom: Iowa 3, Penn State 35
NET Rankings: Iowa 5, Penn State 41
Conference Standings: Iowa is 10-5, 4th Place (16-6 overall), Penn State is 4-10, 12th Place (7-11 overall)
Spread: Iowa is an 11.5 point favorite
Bracketology: Iowa is a 2 seed (#7 overall), Penn State is not currently ranked
Iowa is all about Luka Garza. As you can see on their athletic website, they are heavily pushing Garza for Player of the Year. And, there’s a reason. He’s averaging 24.7 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. He is a FORCE. He may not be the fastest but he has excellent footwork in the paint, a good eye for passing out of double teams (2+ assists per game) and can stroke the three (45% from beyond).
How Penn State will defend him?
Um.
In a dream world, Harrar bodies him in the paint and (ugh) Buttrick runs him off the line? And that’s obviously not going to happen since Iowa has surrounded him with great shooters (McCaffrey, Weiskamp, Fredrick, Bohannon).
Unfortunately for Penn State, the Lions need this game to get back on the Bracketology radar.
Assuming Penn State Basketball loses today (11.5 point underdogs), the only way the Lions dance is by winning the Big Ten Tournament. Possible? Sure. But not likely.
So, maybe Penn State shocks the world and wins today.
But, more importantly, cheer on the dancers at THON as their amazing philanthropic effort comes to a close today. FTK!