Ace Baldwin Jr.'s hot finish sends Penn State over Iowa 89-79 for third straight win

Feb 9, 2024, 02:31 am

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- — Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 13 of Penn State's final 18 points and finished with 22 in an 89-79 victory over Iowa on Thursday night for the Nittany Lions' third straight win.

Baldwin hit a 3-pointer to give Penn State (12-11, 6-6 Big Ten) its final lead. Qudus Wahab followed with a bucket then Baldwin scored the next eight points, capping his run with a 3-pointer for an 11-point lead — the largest of the game — with 43 seconds remaining.

Baldwin scored 18 second-half points and finished with three 3-pointers and six assists. He was 9 for 9 at the foul line. Wahab had 14 points and seven rebounds. Zach Hicks made a trio of 3-pointers and scored 14. D'Marco Dunn added 12 points. Penn State shot 52%, hit 12 of 23 from the arc and 25 of 31 free throws.

Ben Krikke, averaging nearly 15 points a game but with just 26 total in his previous four, hit 10 of 18 shots in scoring 22 points to lead the Hawkeyes (13-10, 5-7). Patrick McCaffery added 11 points as did Tony Perkins, who contributed eight assists but had a streak of five straight 20-point games end. Iowa shot 56% but was only 4 of 15 from 3-point range while committing 18 turnovers. The Hawkeyes shot 21 fewer free throws than Penn State, making 9 of 10.

Jameel Brown hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 19-6 run over nine minutes that put Penn State up by 10 late in the first half and the Nittany Lions led 42-34 at halftime.

Iowa is host to Minnesota and Penn State plays at Northwestern in Sunday games.

------ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ------ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball