Do you remember March 1, 2001?
If you're among the handful of Penn State basketball supporters still among us, you should.
Way back on 3/1/01 the Nittany Lions marched into the cauldron of Carver-Hawkeye arena in Iowa City, Iowa, and marched out with an invaluable 78-73 victory. Jerry's kids, which back then included Titus and Gyasi and, of course, Joe, fought bravely in front of 15,000 enemy fans and ESPN cameras for that win. It was a great night for a pretty darned good team that went onto some pretty big things.
But if, by chance, the glory and rapture of that game didn't leave a brand on your memory, this year's version of the Lions made the same trek out to Iowa this past Saturday and looked to generate some more precious memories for themselves and their fans.
Oh, well. Better luck next year.
Penn State (5-16, 0-10 Big Ten) lost to Iowa (13-8, 5-5) 84-71 on Saturday to extend its futility in hostile territory to an extraordinary 19 games. The loss also means the Lions have dropped 23 of their last 26 in the Big Ten dating back to last season.
To Penn State's credit though, this was not the massacre it could have been
Iowa jumped out to leads of 8-0 and 15-2 and nightmares of East Lansing and Madison were seeping into the subconscious. But Penn State was game for the challenge and fought its way back.
Junior guard Sharif Chambliss, who led Penn State for the game with 16 points, hit an NBA-length three to pull the Lions within eight, 39-31 with a little under a minute left in the first half.
But a frustrating trend appeared at this point. With momentum finally on Penn State's side, the Hawkeyes promptly ripped it away, scoring the last three points of the half to give Iowa a 42-31 lead at the break.
Time after time, this scene would repeat itself in the second half.
The Lions came out of the break roaring and cut the lead to 46-40, but Iowa, led by Glenn Warley (15 points and 10 boards) and Chauncey Leslie (18 points), forged out a 10-2 run and pushed its advantage to 56-42.
Again, Penn State fought back. A series of treys from Chambliss and freshman swingman DeForrest Riley coupled with an Ndu Egekeze tip-in brought the Lions to within seven, 63-56, with 7:40 left in the game.
The Hawkeyes again countered and a Brody Boyd three-pointer pushed the lead to 12.
One last time, Penn State mustered a comeback and a Riley three cut the lead to single digits, 68-59. But that was all the Lions had left.
Finally the Hawkeyes landed the proverbial knockout blow, flush to the kidney, in the form of a 12-2 run which extended their lead to 80-61 and left only 3:30 of formalities to be played.
Iowa killed the Lions inside. Lion big men Jan Jagla and Robert Summers fouled out and 46 of the Hawkeyes' points came in the paint.
"They were tough inside," freshman forward Aaron Johnson said. "We just gave up sometimes. They weren't bigger or stronger, they just worked harder."
Even so, the effort was admirable.
"We were lethargic at the start, but in the second half we played a totally different game," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn told the Penn State radio network. "We picked up our defensive intensity and played with more sense of purpose. These guys are still fighting. It can be a real big challenge sometimes."
The effort was not lost on the players, either. "I'm real proud of this team," Johnson said. "Everyone was trying hard and enthusiastic. No one quit."
