PENN STATE 69, IOWA 64: Tim Frazier bounced back from a poor first half as the Nittany Lions held off a second-half surge to defeat the Hawkeyes and avenge a blowout loss to their Big Ten rival just 12 days earlier.

Frazier, the conference’s second-leading scorer, scored 14 of his18 points in the second half for Penn State (12-15, 4-10 Big Ten), which has won two straight games for the first time since Dec. 18-21.

The victory helped the Nittany Lions avoid a season sweep after the Hawkeyes secured a 77-64 win in Iowa on Feb. 4.

Penn State held Iowa (13-13, 5-8) scoreless over a five-minute stretch as it took a 10-point lead midway through the first half and extended that lead to 14 at the break when it closed with a 6-0 run.

But Matt Gatens exploded over the final 20 minutes, hitting five 3-pointers in the second half as the Hawkeyes trimmed the lead to three points on four different occasions, the last coming with 1:25 left.

However, Iowa's Melsahn Basabe missed a pair of free throws for the conference’s best free-throw shooting team that could have cut the lead even further while Penn State hit three of its final four attempts from the stripe.

Gatens finished with a game-high 21 points and freshman Aaron White posted his second straight double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawkeyes, who have dropped five straight on the road.

GAME NOTEBOOK: It took just over eight minutes into the second half for Iowa to match its first-half total of seven field goals. … Gatens went 0 for 5 from the field in the first half, then nailed his next five attempts, all of which were 3-pointers. … Penn State is 3-1 in its last four home games.