The Iowa Hawkeyes beat the Penn State Nittany Lions 77-58 tonight in Iowa City. They started off 17-3 and never looked back. Penn State has struggled the last few seasons. In fact, the last road win the Lions had was in 2001 in Iowa City. Iowa looked like a team with something to prove after losing to Michigan Wednesday. Once again, Jeff Horner has a good game and the Hawks win. I think that Pierre Pierce will probably always get his points; to beat the Hawks you have to stop or slow or frustrate Jeff Horner.

The Hawkeyes were led in scoring by Jeff Horner’s 20; he was joined in double figures by Pierre Pierce (17) and Glen Worley (14). Iowa was led in rebounding by Greg Brunner with 9; they were led in assists by Jeff Horner with 8. The Nittany Lions were led in scoring by A Johnson’s 22; he was joined in double figures by Jan Jagla (11) and Ben Luber (11). Penn State was led in rebounding by Jagla with 11; they were led in assists by Luber with 5.

The game was decided early. The Hawks jumped out to a double figures lead before Penn State scored a field goal. After that it was more and more Hawks. It was the kind of game that the bench players got a lot of time, which is always good. The Hawks were without center Sean Sonderleiter who missed the game for personal reasons. (That’s all that was said, which leads a lot of room for conjecture. This story has a bit more on it.) On a positive note, Glen Worley played 38 minutes and DIDN’T foul out. WOW! And little used reserve Erek Hansen got 21 minutes to cover the missing Sonderleiter and played well. While Penn State has been struggling, the Hawks have to put this one behind them as they play at Michigan State on Wednesday. Michigan State was one of the favorites to win the Big 10 but due to an incredibly tough preseason schedule hasn’t done nearly as well as predicted. However, they seem to be back on track now.