Three takeaways from Penn State basketball's dramatic win over Iowa

Using a few clutch shots and a physical inside presence, Penn State basketball snapped a three-game losing slide with a 90-86 win in double overtime against Iowa.

The Nittany Lions now sit at 9-9 overall, and 4-6 in Big Ten play.

1. When they needed a response, the Nittany Lions showed grit

The Nittany Lions seemed dead in the water.

Already on the losing end of three consecutive games, Penn State has just allowed a ridiculous, last-second tip-in by Iowa’s Keegan Murray to send what looked a regulation win to overtime.

“That’s one of the most incredible plays I’ve ever seen,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.

Indeed it was, and it stunned the Bryce Jordan Center crowd into silence. And after Iowa took a three-point lead in overtime, this game seemed ready to unravel.

But Seth Lundy made a big shot to tie the game and inject some life. Trailing by three again with nine seconds left, Myles Dread hit a step-back triple with a man in his face to force the second OT.

“If there’s any guy on the court, I want you to shoot it,” John Harrar said he told Dread.

Dread’s big-time shot gave them another opportunity to close the game out on their terms in the second overtime, and the Nittany Lions didn’t waver. Sam Sessoms helped seal the victory at the free-throw line after his miss opened the door for Murray’s game-tying basket at the end of regulation.

It’s one thing to break down the individual moments, but collectively, they show character. And that matters, especially right now, as Shrewsberry looks to build the foundation for his program.

“Things didn’t always go well for us, but we kept fighting back, we kept fighting back, we kept fighting back,” Shrewsberry said.

“These guys did it all night long. I’m proud of them. I’m proud of these guys and how we responded.”

Penn State lineman Anthony Whigan enters the NCAA transfer portal

2. Penn State rides big-man bully ball to win

The Nittany Lion forward trio of Seth Lundy, John Harrar and Greg Lee combined for 52 points and 29 rebounds on Monday evening.

Not bad, right?

For Lee and Harrar, specifically, those points were forged out of sheer physicality.

Lee, in particular, crashed the glass ferociously, picking up five offensive rebounds to go with 16 points on 6-7 from the field as he turned in what was by far his best game as a Nittany Lion.

“He had some offensive rebounds, that it was just like, you had to have something in your heart to go get that offensive rebound,” Harrar said. “That’s where he’s deadly. He does his work on the glass and in the paint.”

Harrar put in a shift, too. He scored a season-high 19 points, and the Nittany Lions outscored the Hawkeyes 44-28 in the paint.

“I think we know now, in the Big Ten, you gotta be physical,” Harrar said. “It’s a dog fight. We can punish people on the glass.”

3. With three-point shots not falling, PSU finds other ways to score

Shooting 22.2 percent from 3-point range and getting outscored by 15 points from beyond the arc does not seem like a winning recipe for Penn State against a team that entered the night at No. 23 in KenPom’s ratings.

Really, it hasn’t been a winning formula against anyone. The Nittany Lions entered this game 0-6 when they didn’t make at least 30 percent of their triples.

But Penn State found a way to produce its best offensive performance in four games, scoring 66 points in regulation.

The Nittany Lions were more willing to play fast. They moved the ball well. They got easy looks inside — they did everything except cash in on the three-ball, and that was enough.

“I felt like we got really good shots,” Shrewsberry said. “So I wasn’t stressing over that. I thought we’d make some in the second half. We kept getting the same quality of look, I thought we’d make more. I’m fine with it.

“We shot good shots, we attacked the rim a lot more. We made plays around the rim. Our spacing helped us be able to have opportunities to get in there. We’re going to continue to try to do that.

“Water finds its level at some point in time. We’ve got a boatload of makes coming.”