With two wins this week the Iowa Hawkeyes will finish in no worse than a tie for third in the Big Ten race. It begins tonight with a visit to a Penn State team that is 1-13 in the conference race. Iowa coach Steve Alford says while the Nittany Lions have struggled the Hawks will need a great effort to come out with a win. Alford says there’s more pressure on his team and he says it won’t be an easy game and they’ll need a good 40 minute effort.
Alford says while the Hawks have played better the second half of the season they still have a small margin of error on the road. Alford says Penn State is experienced, they aren’t playing with any pressure, it’s their last home game, so Alford says it’s a concern. Penn State has been close to a number of upsets at home, and Alford says getting road wins isn’t easy in the Big Ten.
Penn State coach Ed DeChellis says the Nittany Lions want to finish on as positive note. He says they’ve struggled but have still played hard and given a good effort. DeChellis says he sees little difference in the Iowa team that beat the Nittany Lions 79-63 in Iowa City back on January 24th. Iowa is 16-12 overall.