Before the Penn State men's basketball team stepped on the practice court this week, coach Ed DeChellis spoke honestly of the Nittany Lions four-game losing streak and how his team could possibly end it.

"You're not very intelligent if you don't look at history and say, 'Oh, that's going to repeat itself,' because it has, unless we try to fix things," he said. "Because history usually does repeat itself."

Penn State's 79-63 loss to Iowa last night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena indicated there are still repairs to be made.

The Lions (10-9, 1-5 Big Ten) extended their losing streak to five and continued to go winless on the road this season.

"We just lose focus at critical times," DeChellis told the Penn State Radio Network. "We just continue to make really, really foolish mistakes at critical times."

Geary Claxton scored 20 points and Jamelle Cornley had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but together they could not prevent the Hawkeyes (11-9, 3-3) from taking a one-point halftime lead and scoring 51 in the second to ice the game.

Penn State out-rebounded an opponent for the first time in four games, but was out-shot from both behind the arc and the field by Iowa, the fourth consecutive time a Lions foe has done so.

Iowa also become the fourth team in five games to shoot better from the free throw line than Penn State. The Lions left 10 points on the charity stripe.

"We had free throws that we needed to make at critical times so the basket wasn't so big at the other end for [Iowa]," DeChellis said.

The baskets were small for both teams to start the game. The two teams went a combined 1-for-13 during the first six minutes of the game and Penn State led 3-0. The early pace favored the Lions, who entering the game ranked at the bottom of the Big Ten in defense, giving up 74.6 points per game.

Iowa went 10-for-27 in the first half, giving Penn State plenty of opportunities create a lead. But the Lions made only nine field goals in the half, and the Hawkeyes took a 28-27 lead on the final possession of the first half on a tip-in by Iowa guard Adam Haluska, who finished with a game-high 24 points.

"We were deflated at the end of the first half," DeChellis said. "Offensively, we just couldn't make any baskets and that just continued into the second half."

Iowa, though, made 65 percent of its second half baskets and took control of the game. With the score tied at 37, five minutes into the half, Haluska made three free throws then canned his fourth three-pointer to put Penn State down 11 with nine minutes to go.

Penn State shot 35-percent for the game and 6 of 23 from three-point land.

"We just couldn't make any baskets," DeChellis said. "Our perimeter shooting was just horrendous."

Notes: Senior guard Ben Luber started for the second straight game, but took just one shot and had no points. ... Iowa has not lost a Big Ten home game since a 75-65 loss to Illinois on Feb. 19, 2005. ... Penn State has not won at Iowa since 2001. ... Iowa's Haluska has started all 118 games in his career, a streak that is the longest in the nation among current players....Minnesota, who the Lions face Saturday afternoon on the road, lost to Michigan State, 70-46, last night.