For a while, it looked like it would be The Reggie Evans Show last night at the Bryce Jordan Center. But the last three minutes it turned into The Tyler Smith Show as Penn State defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, 71-65.

While the Iowa forward Evans had 23 points and 13 rebounds, Penn State's Smith overcame a two-point first half and scored 11 of his 17 points in the final 3:17 in leading the Nittany Lions (7-16, 3-9 Big Ten) to victory.

"As far as what got into me, I think it was more what got out of me, in terms of how I played in the first half," Smith said.

Smith hit two three-pointers, including one at the 2:29 mark that gave the Lions the lead for good, sending the Hawkeyes (15-11, 4-8) to their seventh defeat in nine games.

"I'm an upperclassman and only have a few games left here, so now's the time to hit those shots," Smith said.

The reason Penn State was even in the game as crunch time approached was a strong effort on the boards, particularly the offensive glass. In a stark contrast to the two teams' earlier meeting this season when Iowa doubled the Lions in rebounds 48-24, Penn State held a 34-32 advantage. This includes 17-9 on the offensive end.

"I've always thought rebounding is effort," Iowa head coach Steve Alford said. "I thought they'd come at us on the backboard, because I thought they were really embarrassed on the backboard in Iowa City."

Smith said that a strong rebounding effort was a main focus of the Lions heading into the game.

"Tonight, our mentality was to hit the glass hard, and we will get second shots," he said.

Part of the reason for the improved play inside was a breakout game by junior forward B.J. Vossekuil, who played 16 minutes --the most he's played since returning form a knee injury Jan. 16 -- and was instrumental in keeping the ball alive for teammates to grab rebounds.

"This was the first and only game where I got into a little flow," Vossekuil said. "It felt good."

The turnaround on the inside was overshadowed by the fact that the Iowa perimeter game was almost nonexistent. The Hawkeyes went an entire game without a three-point field goal for the first time in ten years.

"We did a tremendous job of not giving them open three-point shots," Lions point guard Brandon Watkins said.

A primary factor in the Hawkeyes' inability to establish an outside game was the foul trouble of guard Luke Recker. The senior amassed three fouls in the first half and picked up his fourth six and a half minutes into the second.

Therefore, Iowa's go-to guy on the outside was limited to only two field goals.

"It was just very bad offense again," Alford said. "And then our best three-point shooter in Recker, I don't know if he could tell you if he was in Pennsylvania tonight."

Freshman Jan Jagla had his second consecutive double-double at home with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Watkins had 15 points and seven assists for Penn State.

"Tonight was one of our best efforts overall," Dunn said.