How far did Penn State basketball rise in the AP Top 25 after its win over Iowa?
Penn State men’s basketball moved up one spot in The Associated Press Top 25 poll after it was ranked just outside the top 20 last week.
The Nittany Lions earned the No. 20 ranking Monday afternoon, with 456 voting points in the poll, the most they’ve received this season. They were ranked No. 21 last week with 312 voting points.
Head coach Pat Chambers has led Penn State to a 12-2 record on the season and a 2-1 record in the early Big Ten slate. The Nittany Lions won their only game last week, a tight matchup with the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Palestra in Philadelphia. They took the Hawkeyes down, 89-86.
The matchup was tight throughout and featured 24 lead changes in the 40 minutes of action. Penn State was led in its victory by redshirt sophomore guard Izaiah Brockington, who scored 23 points. Brockington netted 15 of those points in the second half and helped lead the Penn State offense without senior forward Lamar Stevens and redshirt senior center Mike Watkins on the floor.
Both seniors were in foul trouble early in the game and that forced the Nittany Lions to look to Brockington for scoring in the game. His play kept the team afloat while key buckets from Stevens and Watkins helped Penn State close out the victory. Stevens finished with 16 points and 4 rebounds, while Watkins finished with 4 points and 4 boards before fouling out.
The Nittany Lions are among five Big Ten teams ranked in Monday’s poll, the most of any conference in college basketball. Michigan State (No. 8), Ohio State (No. 11), Maryland (No. 12), Michigan (No. 19) are all ranked ahead of Penn State. Three more Big Ten schools are receiving votes. Iowa has the most voting points among unranked schools with 63, while Wisconsin is sixth with 17 voting points and Purdue is 14th with one voting point.
The Nittany Lions will be back in action Tuesday with their first of two matchups this week. They’ll travel to Piscataway to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The Scarlet Knights are the No. 43 team in the country according to Ken Pomeroy’s KenPom rankings and beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers 79-62 in their most recent game.
After their trip to New Jersey, the Nittany Lions will travel home for a Saturday matchup with Wisconsin. The Badgers are coming off a 61-57 win over Ohio State Friday evening and will play Illinois Wednesday before traveling to University Park. Wisconsin is the No. 24 team in the KenPom rankings.
The next AP Poll will be released at noon Jan. 13.
AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll
(Monday, Jan. 6, 2020)
1. Gonzaga 1,607
2. Duke 1,545
3. Kansas 1,513
4. Baylor 1,386
5. Auburn 1,317
6. Butler 1,181
7. San Diego State 1,130
8. Michigan State 1,129
9. Oregon 1,075
10. Florida State 966
11. Ohio State 924
12. Maryland 863
13. Louisville 844
14. Kentucky 811
15. Dayton 614
16. Villanova 604
17. West Virginia 599
18. Virginia 556
19. Michigan 502
20. Penn State 456
21. Memphis 455
22. Texas Tech 287
23. Wichita State 252
24. Arizona 184
25. Colorado 81
Others receiving votes: Iowa 63, Seton Hall 48, Arkansas 38, Marquette 25, Xavier 18, Wisconsin 17, Houston 8, Creighton 6, Washington 6, Virginia Commonwealth 5, Saint Mary’s 3, Northern Iowa 2, Liberty 2, Purdue 1, Stephen F. Austin 1, BYU 1
