EVANSTON, Ill. – Junior Seth Lundy hit two of his five 3-pointers in the final 2:25 of the game to help the Penn State men's basketball team rally back from a 10-point second-half deficit and pick up a 74-70 road victory at Northwestern Wednesday evening inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern led by as much as 10 at 55-45 with 9:37 to play. The Nittany Lion offense came to life in the final 9:14 as Penn State shot 9-for-13 from the field, 4-for-6 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the FT line in the final nine-plus minutes. Lundy scored 12 of his points during that stretch including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left that turned a 63-63 tie into a 66-63 Penn State lead.
Lundy finished with a game-high 23 points. Senior Jalen Pickett added 18 points for his fifth-straight game in double figures while adding six rebounds, four assists and a steal to his stat line.
The Penn State defense dominated the boards for the second consecutive contest, out-rebounding Northwestern 40-28. Graduate student John Harrar grabbed a game-high eight rebounds while senior big men Greg Lee and Jalanni White each had seven.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Northwestern got off to a quick advantage making its first three attempts from beyond the arc while Harrar scored all six of Penn State's points leading up to the first media timeout.
- Despite a couple scoring droughts, the Nittany Lions stayed within three points, 25-22, at the under-8 media timeout thanks to a plus-seven rebound margin with seven offensive boards.
- After taking a one-point lead on a step-back jumper by Pickett, the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run over the final three minutes of the half to take a 34-29 advantage into the locker room.
- The home team started to heat up leading up to the first media timeout of the second half with three-straight field goals plus an and-one free throw make to take their largest lead of the game at that point, 45-36.
- Penn State made three-straight buckets on a 8-2 run over a two-minute span with 7:35 remaining to get back within four, 57-53, after trailing by as much as 10.
- That run would increase to a 12-2 run as the Nittany Lions tied the game at 57 for the first tie of the game with just under six minutes left in regulation.
- Lundy then took over to close out the comeback for Penn State, scoring 10 of his 23 points in the final 2:25 as the Nittany Lions went on to outscore the Wildcats 26-13 in the final eight and a half minutes for the 74-70 come-from-behind victory.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State rallied from a 10-point deficit to come back and win for the second time this season. The Nittany Lions also erased a 10-point deficit in their win over Cornell.
- Junior Seth Lundy has scored in double figures in 10 of 12 games this season, including three 20-point games with 23 tonight. His game-high points led the Nittany Lions for the fifth time this season.
- Lundy owns seven 20-point performances in his career.
- Senior Myles Dread hit his 200th career 3-pointer with his first three of the night in the first half. He is one of seven Nittany Lions in program history to reach that mark.
- Senior Jalen Pickett registered his fifth-straight game with double-digit points. He's had at least 10 points in eight of the last nine games.
- Penn State earned its first true road win of the season.
- Penn State moves to 35-20 all-time against Northwestern and has now won five of the last six meetings over the Wildcats.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
- "I think for anybody in the Big Ten it's hard to win on the roa. So any time you get an opportunity to win outside of your building, you've got to cherish every single one of those because as you see it it's not going to happen very much. [Northwestern] is a good team – how they play, how they defend, what they do offensively, they really make it tough on you. They spread you out with their shooting, they got off to a great start shooting the ball, and it put pressure on us in terms of how we needed to guard them in those ways. I just thought this was a gritty, tough win for us and happy to get out of here with a win. I know they lost to Michigan State but there's not many people who are going to come in here and get wins because it's going to take a lot to beat these guys here."
UP NEXT
Penn State returns home for its next two contests, beginning with a Saturday showdown against No. 3 Purdue. Tipoff is set for noon from the Bryce Jordan Center and the game will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network.