The Hawkeyes made one of their final seven field goal tries to close the game and allowed the Nittany Lions to shoot
The Bryce Jordan Center has been a house of horrors for Iowa basketball in recent years, and add 2026 as another year to the list.
The Hawkeyes (20-9, 10-8) came to State College, Pennsylvania fresh off a dominant 74-57 triumph over Ohio State, while Penn State came in boasting the league's worst record and hadn't won at home in nearly a month (Feb. 1 against Minnesota).
But as the saying goes, "that's why you play the game."
The Nittany Lions answered every Iowa run, and they closed the game on a 9-2 run to hand the Hawkeyes a 71-69 upset loss on Saturday - Iowa's fourth consecutive loss in Happy Valley.
Here are three observations from Iowa's defeat:
Iowa goes cold at the worst moment
Iowa fans had flashbacks of the Maryland loss on Feb. 11 for this entire game, but it looked like the Hawkeyes would escape after they went on a 9-0 scoring run to take a 67-62 lead with 4:30 left.
All Iowa had to do to hold on was to get some stops on the defensive end and continue executing on offense. Needless to say, it did neither.
Poor defense was a factor throughout this entire game (more on that in a second), but the Hawkeyes picked the wrong time to enter a scoring drought. Iowa didn't register another field goal until the final seconds of regulation - Bennett Stirtz's tying layup - squandering many opportunities along the way (they finished 1/7 from the floor).
The Hawkeyes' best chance to bury Penn State came at the 3:49 mark. Iowa secured three offensive rebounds on the possession, but it ended with Stirtz dribbling the ball off his leg.
There were certainly additional opportunities for the Hawkeyes to put this one away down the stretch, but not getting a bucket on that trip pretty much summed up the conclusion of this game.
Penn State can't miss from three
Penn State fans can't even believe this is a statement. The Nittany Lions came into this game boasting one of the Big Ten's worst three-point shooting offenses, but they looked like the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
After going 7/37 in its previous five games, Penn State went 9/15 (60%) against Iowa. Most of the damage was done in the first half, where Josh Reed and Freddie Dilione combined for four of the Lions' six made treys in the period.
The Hawkeyes did a better job keeping Penn State off the arc in the second, but the Nittany Lions still went 3/4 from outside. The hot perimeter shooting allowed Penn State to shoot 64% (25-39) from the field.
It's hard to win basketball games on the road when you can't get stops, and it definitely caught up to Iowa on Saturday.
Koch gets going
The Hawkeyes won't find many positives from this loss, but head coach Ben McCollum has to be pleased with redshirt freshmen Cooper Koch.
It's been an up-and-down campaign for Koch, but the forward stepped up in a big way, scoring a career-high (and team-high) 18 points on 6/9 shooting - including five triples. The Peoria, Illinois native last registered three or more threes on Dec. 14, so this was a long time in the making.
With Stirtz having an off-night in the second half (four points), Iowa probably loses by double-digits without Koch's efforts. If Koch can be consistent from deep, it will give the Hawkeyes a much-needed sidekick for Stirtz.
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