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Going back to Philly

Hawkeyes’ trip to The Palestra a Homecoming for Fran McCaffery

PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Iowa men's basketball team travels to Philadelphia on Saturday to take on Penn State in a top-25 matchup.

No. 21 Penn State will host No. 23 Iowa (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten) in the University of Pennsylvania's Palestra. For Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery it is a Homecoming for the guy who had previously played for Penn from 1978-82.

"I have a lot of family and friends there, grew up with that place being a big part of my life," McCaffery said. "I had an opportunity -- that was our home arena. My college coach is going to be there. A lot of those types of things. But I'm pretty good at kind of separating that from the task at hand. It's a big game on our schedule. It's a ranked opponent, a team I have a lot of respect for. They're playing extremely well. My responsibility is just to make sure we go there and play well."

According to Penn State coach Patrick Chambers the decision to play at the Palestra was a decision that dated back during a recruiting trip at NBA top-100 and at the Nike coaches retreat.

"I thought Frannie being a Penn guy for those two years and getting his kids back to the Palestra since his sons are on the team," Chambers said. "I thought he might be a great option for that game.

"I'm real appreciative of Frannie for saying yes and allowing us to have the game at the Palestra which is fantastic. This conversation started when we were recruiting at NBA top-100. Then we and our wives were together at the Nike coaches retreat. We spent a lot of time together and we talked about it more and more."

The Nittany Lions (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) also enter the game on a four-game win streak and post the 31st scoring offense. Penn State also has a notable top-five win over No. 4 Maryland.

"I don't think [Penn St. has home-court advantage]," McCaffery said. "I think they're just playing at a very high level, and they have always played well at home. You look at all the games and some of the big wins they've had, they've played really well in their home arena. They do have six guys on their team from Philadelphia. This game will be sold out. It will be very loud in there. The atmosphere will be spectacular.

"But I'm more concerned with about the quality of our opponent and how well they're play than the fact that the game may or may not be more beneficial one way or the other. The bottom line is they're going to have a ton of people there. We're going to have some people there, too."

The Hawkeyes enter the matchup on a four-game win streak and boasts the 27th ranked scoring offense.

"You know you look at the 30,000-foot lens of what Frannie's done is pretty amazing," Chambers said. "He had guys leave, he had guys transfer late now he has [Jordan Bohannon] out and for him to be a Top-25 team. I mean [Luka] Garza is playing out of his mind. He's terrific. The development of Garza alone is unbelievable."

Iowa's Luke Garza averages a double-double of 10 rebounds and 21.6 ppg which currently ranks him as the 27th highest scoring player in the country.

"We have got to try to do the best we can against Garza," Chambers said. "He's a really good player. He's going to get his but we can put our head down. We really have to try to be in the proper position defensively. If we get out of position then he's going to get in or he's going to at least draw fouls on us and that means somebody is going to sit on the bench."

Penn State's Lamar Stevens, a Philadelphia native, leads the team with 16.4 points per game as well as averages 7.2 rebounds per game. Mike Watkins has averaged 11.2 ppg and with a team leading 9.4 rebounds. However, a difference maker has been Myreon Jones' 3-point shooting as he posts a .419 shooting percentage which helps him average 14.5 ppg.

"He's made over 30 [3-pointers]," McCaffery said. "But he's their backup 1. He goes off the dribble, hits floaters, hits big shots, tough shots in key situations. I think it's really critical as you look at that team, especially because you know what you're going to get from Stevens and Watkins, but then you've got Myreon Jones doing what he's doing."

Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. with the game televised on the Big Ten Network.