Despite a strong second half, Penn State was unable to overcome a 36-19 halftime deficit as it fell 77-64 against Iowa on Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.
The Nittany Lions (10-14, 2-9) outscored the Hawkeyes (13-11, 5-6) 45-41 in the second half and got over the 54-point mark for the first time since Jan. 15 (a span of four games) and finished the game shooting 40.3 percent from the field after shooting under 30 percent in the first half. A slow start that saw them fall behind by as many as 26 and 16 turnovers, however, were simply too much to recover from.
Penn State's Tim Frazier scored a game-high 23 points with five assists and five rebounds, but also had seven of the turnovers. Jermaine Marshall (13 points), Cammeron Woodyard (11 points) and Nick Colella (10 points) joined him in double figures.
Iowa put forth a big effort offensively that saw 45.8 percent shooting from the field and three scorers, Matt Gatens, Bryce Cartwright and Aaron White finish with at least 17 points. Gatens led the way with 18 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 shooting from the free throw line.
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