Gutsy Lions hold off late Hawkeye comeback, remain perfect at home

The words undefeated and Penn State men's basketball are not usually mentioned in the same sentence. But for now they can be.

The victory extended Penn State's home winning streak to nine games dating back to last season. The Lions are now 8-0 at home this year.

Penn State has had its luck before against the Hawkeyes. In fact, the last time the Lions defeated a ranked opponent, the victim was none other than Iowa. At the time, Feb. 3, 1996, the Hawkeyes were also ranked sixteenth in the country, but fell at home in overtime 95-87.

Penn State coach Jerry Dunn holds last night's win right up there among some of his more magnanimous victories.

"Oh boy," Dunn sighed. "(The win) probably ranks right up there with the Indiana win and the win at Iowa during my first year (1995-96) as coach. Those were big wins."

Neither team was able to get offensive production early. Both exchanged their fair share of traveling calls before Hawkeye center Ryan Bowen dropped in the first two points of the game. Bowen finished with a team-high 17 points on 8 of 16 shooting.

The two point lead was the only one of its kind for Iowa the rest of the night. Penn State opened the scoring gates and rushed out to a 24-12 first-half lead, its largest of the game.

Leading the way for Penn State was freshman guard Joe Crispin. His game-high 23 points on 6 of 13 shooting was the highest point total by a Lion freshman since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993. However, the most important stat of the night for Crispin was in the turnover column. It read only one.

"You gotta take care of the ball," he said. "Against the press that was the big difference tonight."

This came after Crispin turned the ball over eight times against Michigan State in the Lions' last outing.

Penn State appeared to put the crowd and their nerves to rest when it took a 10-point lead with just under eight minutes to play. But Iowa would battle back to make for an interesting finish.

The Hawkeyes cut the lead to two with 1:59 remaining. Then, with the shot clock fast approaching zero, Penn State forward Jarrett Stephens made the first 3-pointer of his career.

And what a time to hit it.

The junior never had any doubt it was good.

"I just heard the crowd and saw the shot clock going down," Stephens said. "I felt confident. I knew it was going in."

Stephens was quick to note after the game that he shot 40 percent from 3-point range in high school. When asked why he didn't shoot more in college, Stephens said it wasn't his decision.

Regardless of how often Stephens shoots 3-pointers, this one couldn't have come at a better time. It gave the Lions a five-point lead on which they were able to ride to victory.

A win over a ranked opponent can do wonders for a team's confidence. Especially for a young team like Penn State.

"Right now I believe we have a lot athletes with a lot of desire," Lion small forward Titus Ivory said. "All we need is a confidence booster. We're coming together as a team."