Nine days after its mission was not accomplished, Penn State will get another crack at slowing down the Murray brothers.
Keegan Murray and his twin brother Kris Murray led Iowa to a 17-point home win over Penn State on Jan. 22 and the rematch takes place Monday evening in University Park, Pa.
In the first matchup between the Big Ten foes, Keegan Murray scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 68-51 triumph. Kris Murray scored 13 points — 10 in the second half — as the Hawkeyes outscored the Nittany Lions 38-26 after intermission.
“We’re a really tough group,” Kris Murray said after the win over Penn State. “We’re not going to let anybody out-tough us. That’s kind of been our mentality coming into the Big Ten season, and that’s kind of the mentality you see on the court, too.”
The Hawkeyes (14-6, 4-5 Big Ten) and Nittany Lions (8-9, 3-6) each have played one game since meeting, and both teams went down in a double-digit defeat.
Iowa fell 83-73 at No. 6 Purdue on Thursday despite 23 points from Kris Murray. However, the the Hawkeyes were unable to overcome an off-night from Keegan Murray, who managed 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting – well below his season average of 22.4.
“I thought Kris was great the whole game,” Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said. “I just thought his aggressiveness at both ends was really good, and just to see him playing with that level of comfort and confidence is really important for him and for us.”
Penn State lost its third straight game Wednesday, falling to Indiana 74-57. The Nittany Lions shot just 33.3 percent from the floor and allowed the Hoosiers to connect on 10 of 13 3-pointers in the lopsided defeat.
Indiana led 46-17 at halftime and Penn State never recovered in dropping below .500 for the first time this season.
“They dominated us from start to finish,” said Nittany Lions coach Micah Shrewsberry, adding that “we have to get back to the drawing board and be a tougher team the next time.”
–Field Level Media
