There were many similarities between the Penn State and Iowa men's basketball teams on Saturday in its Big Ten matchup.

Both squads have talented backcourts that can shoot from the outside, drive the lane and consistently hit big shots for their respective teams.

Both the Nittany Lions and the Hawkeyes have a big man in the paint that can score, but is mainly a rebounder who hustles down loose balls.

But the Hawkeyes have something that the Lions can't take advantage of.

Iowa has a productive, steady bench that can score and fill the roles of starters when they need a break or find themselves in foul trouble.

Penn State played six players off the bench in Saturday's loss against Iowa, with the most time coming from sophomore B.J. Vossekuil who played 17 minutes.

But the rest of the bench, which consisted of big man Scott Witkowsky, Ndu Egekeze, Marcus Banta, Brandon Watkins and Jamaal Tate combined for only 14 minutes, zero points and no rebounds.

Watkins, who filled in for Lions senior Joe Crispin when the starting guard needed a breather in the second half, took one shot and had no assists in six minutes of play.

Crispin said he isn't concerned about the lack of production from the bench, because the Lions reserves are more concerned with bringing intensity and defense to the floor, and not worried about scoring.

"We don't look for anything but energy coming off the bench," the Pitman, N.J., native said. "Scoring is not what our bench needs to do."

But when Lions senior guard Titus Ivory was struggling and Penn State needs someone to come in and step up, no one was around.

When 6-foot-8 senior forward Gyasi Cline-Heard was sidelined for a few minutes in the second half, no big man came in and filled his role.

And even though Joe Crispin said he is prepared to play 40 minutes at full throttle, Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn knows that is not what he wants to do with his star player.

"The biggest key was that our bench outscored theirs 30-4," Iowa men's basketball coach Steve Alford said. "We pay an awful lot of attention to our bench. We've got good kids, they have a great demeanor to them and they're learning on the fly."

But Crispin sticks behind Dunn's decision not to play more guys, because the lack of consistency from the reserves hasn't left a confident impression on Dunn to play more people off the bench.

However, as the Big Ten season drags on and the inevitable one or two injuries plague a few of the starters, Penn State needs to find a few players that can come in the game and be dependable.

The Lions need someone that can come in the game for a few minutes and score a few points, grab a few rebounds or dish out a few assists to be competitive in conference play.

"I'd like to get seven, eight or even nine guys in the rotation," Dunn said. "But I have to see some things."

So far, the sixth-year coach hasn't seen much.