Tonight, the No. 18 seed Penn State men’s basketball team looked to keep their season alive as they played No. 15 seed Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Wildcats, though, creating 17 Nittany Lion turnovers, move onto the second round after defeating Penn State 76-66.
Ivan Juric and Josh Reed got the Nittany Lions out to a fast 4-0 start, but then Wildcats’ leading scorer and Big Ten Second Teamer, Nick Martinelli, hit a shot from deep to make the score 4-3 PSU (17:38).
At the first media timeout (15:56) it was Northwestern over Penn State 8-7.
Juric was leading all scorers with five points.
The Wildcats were shooting 60% from three but they had no answer for 7-footer Juric who had ten points in the game at the (14:50) mark.
At the second media timeout (11:31) it was Northwestern over Penn State 20-16.
Martinelli had nine points for the Wildcats and Juric had 12 on 5-of-5 shooting.
Freddie Dilione V. then came off the bench for PSU and scored 5 unanswered points to tie the game at 21-21 (9:00).
At the third media timeout (7:50) the Wildcats were up by a basket, 23-21.
The Nittany Lions kept clawing and tied the game after a Melih Tunca triple (5:07) and then retook the lead, 29-26, after three straight points from Josh Reed (4:26).
The Wildcats then scored four unanswered points to retake the lead 30-29 (2:53).
Penn State was shooting 52% from the floor and 50% from downtown, while Northwestern was shooting 48% from the field and only 27% from three-point range.
With (1:33) left before halftime, Northwestern was up on Penn State 32-29.
Then freshman Kayden Mingo for PSU drilled a three from the corner to tie the game at 32-32 (1:15).
After a transition layup from Northwestern’s Jake West off a Penn State turnover, the Wildcats took the lead into the locker room by the score of 34-32.
HALFTIME: Northwestern 34 Penn State 32
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Wildcats’ Martinelli was leading all scorers with 13 points and the Nittany Lions’ Juric had 12 at the midway point.
To start the second half, both teams came out sharp and were battling, but it was the Wildcats getting out to a 44-38 lead at the first media timeout of the second half (16:00).
With (14:39) left in regulation, the Wildcats were holding onto their lead at 47-43.
Northwestern had 13 points off of 10 Penn State turnovers and were now shooting 54% from the floor.
Justin Mullins then stretched the Wildcats’ lead to seven, 52-45, after a made triple (12:41).
Penn State was not letting the game get away from them. With (11:56) to play, the score was 52-49.
Mullins then hit his second three of the game (11:28) to put the Wildcats back up by six, 55-49.
The momentum was swinging in Northwestern’s favor and with (7:53) left to play, it was Northwestern up by five points, 60-55.
Both Martinelli and Juric had 20 points apiece for their respective teams.
Juric was on the bench with four fouls and Northwestern took advantage. They took their largest lead of the game by nine points, 64-55 with (5:53) to play.
Juric came back into the game, but the Wildcats were turning over the Nittany Lions and now had 22 points from Penn State turnovers.
With (3:48) left in regulation, it was Northwestern stretching their lead to 13 points, 68-55.
The Nittany Lions were putting on a full-court press to try to create more offensive opportunities, but Northwestern was handling the pressure well.
The Wildcats held on for the first round victory, 76-66.
FINAL: Northwestern 76 Penn State 66
