No. 5 Iowa takes control early, cruises past Nittany Lions

No. 5 Iowa dominated from start to finish Wednesday night.

The Hawkeyes pushed the pace and built a 10-point lead less than seven minutes into the game against Penn State. Iowa led by double digits for all but 12 seconds of the final 11-plus minutes of the first half. By halftime, the Hawkeyes owned a commanding 19-point lead.

And Iowa rolled to a 73-49 win over the Nittany Lions at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, improving to 12-0 at home this season. It was Penn State’s fourth straight loss and sixth in seven games.

Brandon Taylor scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Nittany Lions. Penn State shot 30.4 percent from the field and went 1 for 20 (5 percent) from beyond the arc.

“We got into their space and made everything difficult for them,” said Iowa’s Jarrod Uthoff, who scored a team-high 14 points and blocked four shots.

Anthony Clemmons and Peter Jok each had 12 points for Iowa. Hawkeyes center Adam Woodbury pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds.

The Nittany Lions (11-12, 2-8 Big Ten) couldn’t avoid falling into an early hole.

Penn State started the game 2 for 11 from the field while Iowa raced out to its first 10-point lead.

The Hawkeyes (18-4, 9-1) took control behind its transition game.

Clemmons finished a fast-break layup after a Penn State turnover less than four minutes into the game. Iowa pushed it down the floor after a missed Penn State 3-pointer, and Jok swished a 3-pointer. And Iowa sped down the floor again two minutes later, this time resulting in two free throws for Clemmons to give his team a 14-4 lead.

“Right from the outset, our defense set the tone,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “We got stops, we got run-outs. I thought we really were locked into throwing it ahead and attacking in transition.”

After a three-point play by Davis Zemgulis, Ahmad Wagner drove past Jordan Dickerson for a two-handed dunk to start a three-point play that pushed Iowa back ahead by 10. Just more than a minute later, the Penn State defense never set, and Dom Uhl buried a wide-open 3-pointer.

The Hawkeyes led 24-9. Penn State took a timeout. There was 10:26 remaining in the half.

The Nittany Lions couldn’t overcome the early deficit.

Zemgulis hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner — the team’s lone 3 in the game — to bring Penn State within nine points with less than six minutes left in the half. Twelve seconds later, Uthoff connected from behind the arc.

Iowa then closed the half strong to take a 45-26 lead into the break. Penn State shot 29.7 percent from the field in the first half, while Iowa shot 53.6 percent.

The Nittany Lions never threatened in the second half as Iowa’s lead grew as large as 28 points.

Penn State hosts No. 22 Indiana (19-4, 9-1) at 8 p.m. Saturday.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 9:11 PM with the headline "No. 5 Iowa takes control early, cruises past Nittany Lions."