Iowa junior guard Jordan Bohannon took a major step in getting back his shooting touch on Wednesday.
With junior forward Tyler Cook sitting out due to an ankle injury, Bohannon drilled a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left to propel No. 23 Iowa to an 89-82 win over Penn State in Big Ten Conference action in University Park, Pa.
Bohannon has been struggling with his shot all season, shooting 1-for-7 from the floor in Iowa's last game, a win over Ohio State on Saturday. He made 6 of 10 field-goal attempts Wednesday, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and finished with 19 points.
Bohannon's late 3-pointer gave the Hawkeyes an 86-82 lead, and Ryan Kriener added one free throw and Joe Wieskamp added two at the line to complete an 8-0, game-ending run.
Luka Garza led the Hawkeyes (15-3, 4-3 Big Ten) with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Kriener scored 16 points.
Josh Reaves had 16 points and seven assists, and Rasir Bolton scored 16 points off the bench for Penn State (7-11, 0-7).
The Hawkeyes outscored the Nittany Lions 49-37 in the second half.
Garza sparked the Hawkeyes with his strong play early in the second half, giving Iowa a 52-49 edge on a layup with 16:54 left.
After Bolton hit two free throws, Jamari Wheeler made a 3-pointer to give the Nittany Lions a 54-52 lead.
A few minutes later, the Nittany Lions made four free throws to pad the lead to 60-54 at the 13:40 mark. Reaves added a 3-pointer and Wheeler made two free throws for a 68-60 lead with 11:05 left.
Iowa answered with seven straight points to slice the margin to 68-67 following Kriener's layup.
Wieskamp scored on a layup as the Hawkeyes took a 74-72 lead at the 5:57 mark.
Bohannon's 3-pointer and Connor McCaffery's layup increased the lead to 79-72 before Reaves made consecutive treys and Lamar Stevens hit a layup to put Penn State back up 80-79 with 3:06 remaining.
John Harrar added a dunk, off an assist from Stevens, to hand the Nittany Lions a 82-81 advantage at the 2:19 mark.
McCaffery made one of two free throws to knot the score at 82-82 with 2:02 remaining. With 1:36 left, Garza made one foul shot to put Iowa on top for good.
--Field Level Media
Iowa | Penn St. | |
Luka Garza 22 | Scoring | Rasir Bolton 16 |
Jordan Bohannon 6 | Assists | Josh Reaves 7 |
Luka Garza 12 | Rebounds | Mike Watkins 11 |
Luka Garza 4 | Free Throws Made | Rasir Bolton 5 |
Nicholas Baer 2 | Steals | Josh Reaves 4 |
Joe Wieskamp 1 | Blocks | Mike Watkins 4 |