UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A buzzer-beater by sophomore Keegan Murray sent the game to overtime, but Penn State prevailed in double overtime, winning 90-86 on Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Despite trailing for most of the first half, a 12-3 run in the final 4:40 of the first period gave the Hawkeyes a two-point advantage heading into the break. The second half went back-and-forth with the Nittany Lions holding a 65-59 lead with 1:10 left in regulation.
The Hawkeyes went to work. A trey from Murray made it a one-score game with under a minute to play. Then, redshirt sophomore Patrick McCaffery drove for a layup with 13 seconds left to make it a one point game. The move paid off, as Penn State’s Sam Sessoms made 1-of-2 free throws, as Iowa faced a two-point deficit in the closing seconds.
Sixth-year senior Jordan Bohannon heaved a 3-point shot as the final seconds ticked off the clock, and Murray got a hand on the attempt and tipped it in with two 10ths of a second remaining to send the game to overtime.
Iowa led by three with under 10 seconds remaining in the first overtime before Penn State’s Myles Dread made a contested 3 from the top of the key to tie the game again. Iowa had another look for the win, but Kris Murray’s attempt caromed off the iron.
The Nittany Lions pulled ahead in the second overtime period, and they held on for the four-point win.
Despite being held scoreless in the first half, Murray scored a game-high 21 points. He grabbed six rebounds to go along with one block and one steal. Kris Murray added eight points, four rebounds, three assists, and a block to his stat line.
The McCaffery brothers had a strong night. Patrick McCaffery scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, also hauling in seven rebounds. Redshirt senior Connor McCaffery finished with a season-high 12 points including four 3-point field goals. Together, the duo combined for seven of Iowa’s 11 3-pointers in the game.
Iowa was out-rebounded, 53-43, in the contest and lost the points in the paint battle, 44-28. The Hawkeyes scored 19 second-chance points and had an 11-to-5 advantage in fastbreak scoring. The defense came up with seven steals and three blocks on the night.
QUOTING COACH MCCAFFERY
“You know, we had our chances. I thought we mixed defenses, we had different guys step up at different times. We didn’t shoot it great. We got a little screwed up when we were trying to switch on that last one with a three-point lead, and they ghosted it. I thought Keegan [Murray] recovered quickly, and the kid made a tough shot…
[Murray’s tip-in was] just a phenomenal court-awareness play. His shot was off, and he just went under the basket and tipped it back in. I mean, those kind of plays are what he does, so really proud of him.”
NOTABLES
- Tonight was Iowa’s first overtime contest of the season; Iowa’s first double overtime game since Feb. 8, 2017 (at Minnesota); fourth overtime contest in the Iowa-Penn State series.
- Four of the last six Iowa-Penn State games have been decided by seven points or less.
- Connor (4) and Patrick McCaffery (3) combined to make seven of Iowa’s 11 three-pointers tonight. Both Connor and Patrick equaled career highs in 3-pointers made. Patrick tied season bests in scoring (16) and rebounding (7)
- Connor McCaffery scored a season-high 12 points, netting all 12 in the first half. The redshirt senior entered today with four 3-point field goals this season, he matched that total sinking 4-of-6 in the first half. Connor left the game with four minutes remaining with an upper body injury.
- Keegan Murray, who scored all of his game-high 21 points in the second half and overtime sessions, tipped in a Jordan Bohannon missed 3-point field goal at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.
- Sophomore Ahron Ulis tied a career high with seven made free throws, sinking all seven in the two overtime periods. Ulis also snagged a personal-best five rebounds.
- Iowa dropped its last two road games by a combined six points (Rutgers; Penn State).
- Hawkeye reserves tallied 36 points, the third highest point total during Big Ten play (46 versus Indiana; 43 versus Illinois).
- The Hawkeyes sank 11 three-pointers, their highest total in a Big Ten game this season and most since making 11 against Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 21, 2021.
- Both Iowa (21-of-28) and Penn State (18-of-24) shot 75 percent from the foul line.
UP NEXT
Iowa (14-7, 4-6) will play next at No. 16 Ohio State (8-9, 3-6) on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. (CT) at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.