National Basketball Association
Northwestern 80, Penn St. 69
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 7, 2020
Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Illinois
Officials:
# DJ Cartensen, # Paul Szelc, # Kelly Pfeifer
Attendance:
6084
By Field Level Media
Miller Kopp hit a career-high five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points, as Northwestern concluded a rebuilding regular season by snapping its seven-game Big Ten home skid with an 80-69 victory over struggling No. 20 Penn State on Saturday in Evanston, Ill.
Boo Buie scored 13 points for the Wildcats (8-22, 3-17 in Big Ten), who benefited from a 17-2 spurt in the second half to win their first home game since Jan. 11.
Rebuilding Northwestern shot 55.6 percent in the second half and went 11 of 22 from 3-point range overall to snap a 15-game losing streak against ranked teams.
Lamar Stevens had 18 points, Myles Dread scored 14 and John Harrar posted 12 with 14 boards for Penn State (21-10, 11-9), which enters the Big Ten tournament a loser of three in a row and five of the last six.
The flat Nittany Lions, who had won three straight over the Wildcats, shot 32.9 percent for the game -- including 10 of 36 from 3-point range.
Stevens gave the Nittany Lions a 37-34 advantage with 19:44 left in the game, but that was the last time they held a lead.
Northwestern led 55-54 with just under 10 minutes to play, when the hosts took over by scoring 17 of the next 19 points. A pair of Kopp 3-pointers highlighted that surge and the Wildcats led by as many as 16 to cap a rough season on a positive note.
Northwestern took advantage of some cold Penn State shooting to jump out to a 10-0 lead before Trent Buttrick got the visitors on the board with a bucket at 15:13 in the first half.
The Wildcats led 16-2 with just over 12 minutes to go in the half, but runs of 7-0 and 6-0, thanks to Dread, who went 3 of 6 from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes, got Penn State back in the game.
The Nittany Lions missed 12 of their first 13 shots, then went 10 of 17 to go into the break tied 34-34. Penn State was minus leading rebounder Mike Watkins (7.6 rebound per game), who did not make the trip for reportedly violating team rules.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Penn St. |
|
Northwestern |
|
Lamar Stevens 18 |
Scoring |
Miller Kopp 21 |
|
Myreon Jones 4 |
Assists |
Pat Spencer 6 |
|
John Harrar 14 |
Rebounds |
Ryan Young 8 |
|
Lamar Stevens 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Pat Spencer 5 |
|
Jamari Wheeler 2 |
Steals |
Miller Kopp 2 |
|
Trent Buttrick 1 |
Blocks |
Ryan Young 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Penn St.
|
69 |
32.9 |
10-36 |
13-17 |
12 |
40 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
| Northwestern
|
80 |
46.4 |
11-22 |
17-23 |
18 |
37 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
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