Penn State forward Lamar Stevens had 22 points and forward Mike Watkins added 19 as the Nittany Lions held off the Iowa Hawkeyes in a 77-73 victory in the Big Ten opener for both at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Saturday.

Stevens made two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining for the final margin.

Penn State led by eight with 4 1/2 minutes remaining before the Hawkeyes got within two four times, but they never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead.

Tony Carr made two free throws with 9.2 seconds remaining to give Penn State a 75-71 lead. Iowa's Jack Nunge made an uncontested dunk before Stevens' clinching free throws.

Carr had 16 points and Shep Garner had 12 points for the Nittany Lions (7-2, 1-0), who had lost two of three. Garner was the only senior to start for either team.

Tyler Cook had 23 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and four assists for the Hawkeyes (4-4, 0-1), who never led. The only tie was at 2.

Cook was fouled while dunking on a fast break and made the ensuing free throw to cut the lead to 69-67 with 1:11 remaining, but Stevens hit a jumper to push the lead back to four.

The Nittany Lions made 12-of-23 3-pointers, their long-range accuracy helping make the difference in the game.

Carr, the Nittany Lions' leading scorer at 21.3 points a game, made 4-of-6 shots from 3-point range. Garner also made 4 of 6 from behind the arc.

Isaiah Moss had 13 points and Cordell Pemsl had 10 for the Hawkeyes, who were 4-of-12 from 3-point range and made 13 of 21 free throws.