Hungry Hawkeyes looking to feast on cagers

By MICHAEL LELLO
Collegian Staff Writer

With Saturday's win at Illinois under its belt, the Penn State men's basketball team is in perfect position to prove it can win conference games on the road. While beating the hapless Fighting Illini (8-11, 0-7 Big Ten) 65-61 was clearly a step in the right direction, the Nittany Lions now face a hungry Iowa squad hoping to halt a three-game losing skid at 8 p.m. today at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Lion forward Gyasi Cline-Heard said the team is cautiously confident heading into Iowa City, Iowa.

"Right now I think we feel good," he said. "We can't get too happy, we still have to go to Iowa. This can be a big week for us, we can turn our season around."

Last Saturday the No. 16 Hawkeyes (13-4, 4-3) were spanked by Wisconsin, 72-52, a game that featured a matchup between 1995-96 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Wisconsin transfer Sam Okey and his ex-teammates. The forward didn't start the game but scored eight points off the bench.

Okey, who practiced last semester but wasn't allowed to play due to academic problems, is still becoming acclimated to the Hawkeye system according to Iowa coach Tom Davis.

"It's like he's going through his preseason," Davis said.

Iowa's backcourt defense was in preseason form as well Saturday, allowing Wisconsin to hit 11 of 22 3-point attempts, including a stunning performance by reserve guard Jon Bryant who connected on six attempts. Iowa guards Ryan Luehrsmann, Kent McCausland and Dean Oliver should have their hands full defending Penn State guards Dan Earl and Joe Crispin, the latter of whom emerged from an icy shooting stretch with 30 points at Illinois.

"They're gonna be hard to defend," Davis said. "Crispin's surely a year older and smarter."

Davis also said Penn State's balanced 3-point threat, featuring Earl, Crispin, Titus Ivory and Greg Grays, will make the Hawkeye task that much more difficult. The Hawkeyes, however, can knock down the trey as well, as they lead the Big Ten (third in conference play) in 3-point percentage. McCausland leads the Big Ten with a .515 3-point percentage.

Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said he definitely won't deploy any type of zone defense against hot-shooting Iowa.

"It's tough to play anything but man against those guys," he said. "I'd have to go see the wizard, so to speak, before I'd play zone against them."

Davis, who according to Dunn has brought some wizardry of his own to the hardwood during his illustrious career, will retire following this season after 12 years at Iowa and 27 overall. Dunn said he is particularly impressed with the innovative flex offense Davis has employed and the success he has had coaching stints at Lafayette, Boston College and Stanford before joining the Hawkeyes.

"He's undoubtedly a Hall-of-Fame coach," Dunn said. "You're talking about a guy that's made his mark on college basketball."