Cartwright, Gatens help Iowa beat Penn State 77-64

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Bryce Cartwright has been in and out of Iowa’s starting lineup all season. Now the senior looks like he’s there to stay.

Cartwright scored 17 points with five assists and one turnover as the Hawkeyes beat Penn State 77-64 on Saturday.

Matt Gatens scored 18 points for Iowa (13-11, 5-6 Big Ten), which opened with a 16-2 lead and led by double digits the rest of the game. Freshman Aaron White added 17 points and nine rebounds.

Iowa, fresh off a comeback victory over Minnesota on Wednesday, won its second straight after losing five of the previous six games.

Tim Frazier scored 23 points to lead the Nittany Lions (10-14, 2-9), who have lost four straight and seven of their last eight.

Penn State trailed by as many as 26 points in the second half before trimming the deficit to 50-36 with 13 minutes left thanks to uncharacteristic outside shooting. The Nittany Lions — the worst 3-point-shooting team in the Big Ten — hit 8 of 16 from the perimeter in the second half.

Penn State cut Iowa’s lead to 67-55 with 3½ minutes left, but the Hawkeyes held their ground again.

The Nittany Lions managed only three baskets in the first 14 minutes. They scored seven straight points near the end of the half and trailed 36-19 at the break.

Iowa celebrated the 25th anniversary of its 1986-87 team, which won a school-record 30 games and reached the Elite Eight, with gold throwback jerseys and a pregame ceremony.

The team was the first in school history to reach No. 1 in The Associated Press poll. Eight of the 12 players on the roster were drafted by NBA teams.