Nittany Lions Withstand Late Northwestern Run to Close out 77-61 win
Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers recognized Northwestern before the Wildcats set foot in the Bryce Jordan Center Saturday afternoon.
Hosting a noon tip against the Big Ten’s last-place team, Chambers and the Nittany Lions saw past the Wildcats’ struggles and lone conference win on the season. Instead, he intimated this week, he saw a competitive team with a record not indicative of its talent. And he saw, at least partially, a bit of the Penn State team that started the 2018-19 season winless in its first 10 games in the Big Ten.
“For myself and staff and the leaders, it's a scary game because of the way they shoot the basketball,” Chambers said. “We watched (them) at Rutgers, we watched the Purdue game, and they played some flawless basketball, shooting threes and really guarding and making life difficult. Chris (Collins) does a great job.”
Unable to produce the type of tip-to-buzzer performance that has guided the Nittany Lions through a seven-game winning streak leading into this one, Penn State still did more than enough to keep it going. Led by 23 points and seven rebounds from Lamar Stevens, the Nittany Lions kept Northwestern at bay through a late push to earn a 77-61 win in front of 14,402 fans at the BJC.
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The win improved the Nittany Lions to 20-5 for the season and 10-4 in the Big Ten with an opportunity, depending on the outcome of Maryland at Michigan State, to move into first place in the league Saturday evening.
To do so, the Nittany Lions needed to snap a 6-point Northwestern run and an 0 for 6 drought from the floor, keyed by a critical Myles Dread 3-pointer with 4:43 left to play.
“We're in the Big Ten. Teams are not going to roll over in the Big Ten. Coaches are not going to allow their teams to roll over in the Big Ten,” Chambers said. “I've been in that situation, my first few years, or more. Leaders don't let their teams quit and stop playing. And that's what he did.
“You got to fight that. As we develop and mature and gain these valuable experiences, you got to be able to punch back when they go on their runs. And I felt like we did that.”
Despite a slow start for the Nittany Lions, trading punches to an early 11-9 deficit, Penn State used a barrage of shots from deep to gradually build up a lead of as many as 17 points in the first half, thanks in part to Northwestern’s 1 of 9 effort from beyond-the-arc. Owning a 42-28 halftime advantage, spurred on by a 24-14 edge on the glass, the Nittany Lions spent much of the second half cruising between a 12 to 18 point lead.
Trading runs, though, a Nittany Lion shooting drought eventually coincided with a 10-1 Northwestern run to bring the Cats within striking range at 64-57 with 5:16 left to play.
Penn State sophomore guard Myles Dread put an end to that dream, though.
Taking an assist from Stevens on the wing, Dread squared up for a late shot clock dagger of a 3-pointer to return the Nittany Lions to their comfortable double-digit advantage.
“Lamar Stevens, to give the ball up, you know he wants to shoot that to stop the run, to give it up to Myles Dread, to me, was a huge play in the game,” Chambers said. “And I think Myles is playing with incredible confidence right now. And the team overall is playing with incredible confidence. I thought we had two good practices and we came out did what we had to do.”
The shot sparked a 13-0 Penn State run in the game’s final minutes to produce its biggest lead of 20 points, 77-57, bookended by Dread’s fourth 3-pointer with a minute to play.
Penn State returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Illinois (16-8, 8-5) for a 6:30 p.m. tip. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
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