The struggle bus rolls on as the Nittany Lions find themselves at 0-10 in the Big Ten, two games away from 17th place. That said, the silver lining is the Lions are back to losing close games, instead of getting the doors blown off them from start to finish.
In a back and forth affair, Penn State and Northwestern started out on fire, each shooting over 50 percent from the field. Northwestern torched the nets from three, Penn State from the free throw line, and, after a track meet of a first half,
the Wildcats went into the half up five.
After an erratic start to the second half, both teams started to settle down. Northwestern, however, settled down while making shots, and Penn State, well, didn’t. As it has been the case for just about every game this season, the Lions had their long scoring drought at the worst possible time, and what was a four point game early in the second half quickly ballooned to an 14-point Northwestern lead.
Fortunately for the Lions, all this happened in the first four minutes of the second half. Penn State would cut the deficit in half, forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout. The hope would be short lived, though, as Northwestern took the lead back to double digits in quick succession. The rest is what we’ve seen for weeks now.
Player of the game
Honestly, nobody.
Random Observations
Uncanny – Northwestern, a team that makes six threes a game, had seven in the first half of this game.
Still – The Lions have a much easier schedule to end the season, so hopefully we see some wins moving forward.
Looking Ahead
Penn State returns home to face Minnesota on Sunday, February 1st. Game is on Peacock at 2:00 PM Eastern. Will this be the game Penn State finally wins?
