EVANSTON, Ill. – The No. 20 Penn State men's basketball team (21-10,11-9) fell in its the Big Ten regular-season finale 80-69 at Northwestern on Saturday, March 7. Strong shooting with a 55.6 percent second half and 11 3-pointers propelled Northwestern to the win at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Miller Kopp and Boo Buie each scored 13 points in the second half with Kopp finishing with a game-high 21 points to lead the Wildcats. Kopp had three of his five 3-pointers in the second period to help Northwestern break the 34-34 halftime tie.
"Obviously we are in a little bit of a speed bump, a couple of speedbumps here," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "We have played some really tough teams, tough opponents. We just have to reset. March is here. I'm really proud of what we have done, 21 wins, 11 wins in this league, when you have eight teams in the top 25, I am not going to diminish or steal the joy from my players and my staff."
Penn State junior forward John Harrar recorded the first double-double of his career, scoring 12 points and grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds. Senior forward Lamar Stevens led the Nittany Lions in scoring with 18 points, . Sophomore guard Myles Dread and senior guard Curtis Jones Jr. each made four triples, ending the game with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
With 11:29 to play in the game, a 3-pointer from Dread and steal and layup by junior guard Jamari Wheeler trimmed the Penn State deficit to just one, 53-32. Sophomore guard Izaiah Brockington responded to a Buie triple to keep the Nittany Lions within one, 55-54.
Over the next three minutes, Northwestern connected on five of its next six shots and added three free throws to take a 66-56 lead with 6:38 remaining. Stevens scored six of the Nittany Lions next eight points with Harrar getting a hook shot. Freshman forward Seth Lundy made all three foul shots to cut lead to single digits, 77-69, with under a minute to play but Northwestern added three free throws for the final.
Northwestern got off to a fast start, making its first three shots from long distance to take an early 16-2 lead as Penn State struggled to get in an offensive rhythm. Starting the game 1-12 from the field, the Nittany Lions closed the half going 10-18 including three triples from Dread for a team-best 11 points at the break.
Penn State ended the half on a 10-4 run behind six points from Harrar to erase a 14-point Northwestern lead.
"Am I disappointed in how we are finishing these games here, yes. However, over the big picture, the macro, these kids have done something that Penn State rarely gets to the see and we're going to the (NCAA) tournament. Now we have fresh life going into the Big Ten tourney, and hopefully we right the ship, not hopefully, we will. We'll get back to work because I know this group and I know that eight-game winning streak is back in their chest somewhere, and we just have to find it, we have to get back to that and that's my job and we will."
The Nittany Lions secured a first-round bye for the 2020 Big Ten Conference Tournament and will play on Thursday, March 12 in Indianapolis.