This Sunday, Northwestern Men’s Basketball (17-7, 8-5 B1G) took the court docket towards Penn State (12-12, 6-7 B1G) for the second time this season, trying to sweep the Nittany Lions after an in depth victory in early January. After a number of back-and-forth possessions, it was apparent: this may be one other nailbiter, one thing the ’Cats have developed fairly a penchant for this season.
Penn State received the tipoff and third-year ahead Zach Hicks opened the scoring with a 3. For the subsequent 20 minutes of play, the sport went backwards and forwards, no crew main by greater than 5 factors and the rating tied six separate occasions within the first half.
Third-year guard Brooks Barnhizer led first-half scoring with 9 factors and in addition grabbed three steals, whereas Penn State’s fourth-year guard Ace Baldwin Jr. led the Nittany Lions with eight factors and 4 assists.
Offensive troubles for the ’Cats, together with a 29% taking pictures proportion for the half, simply three factors from fourth-year guard Boo Buie and a level of sloppiness of their offensive play stored the crew from creating a large lead. On the opposite hand, Northwestern performed powerful protection, grabbed eight offensive rebounds to Penn State’s one and scored 14 second-chance factors. Penn State’s notoriously unhealthy three-point taking pictures was additionally a boon for the ’Cats within the first half when the Nittany Lions went two-of-eight from past the arc.
All advised, Northwestern held on to a 29-27 lead going into the second half, hoping for renewed vitality.
They received their want within the type of a one-two punch from Buie and second-year ahead Nick Martinelli. In the second half, Buie added 12 factors and dished out 4 assists, whereas Martinelli scored 9 and grabbed 4 rebounds.
As the half progressed, the ’Cats managed to increase their result in as many as eight factors whereas Penn State fought to maintain the sport from slipping out of attain. With 39 seconds left to play, the Nittany Lions turned the ball over and Barnhizer threw down a fast-break dunk, bringing the Welsh-Ryan crowd to their ft. Although Penn State’s Baldwin Jr. responded with an instantaneous three-pointer and the Nittany Lions tried to regulate the ’Cats with a full-court press, their efforts proved futile and Northwestern got here away with the 68-63 win, after a collection of stoppages within the type of fouls and timeouts.
Martinelli made his first profession begin, changing fourth-year guard Ty Berry, who sat out the sport as a consequence of a knee damage. He ended the sport with 11 factors and eight rebounds, and all different Northwestern starters additionally scored at the least 11.
“When one person goes out, it doesn’t require just one person to step up,” Buie stated after the sport. “Everybody has to step up, including the guys that were already out there playing and starting.”
The ’Cats shot 31.7% from the sector, a significant departure from their 46.6% season common. But by forcing turnovers, grabbing rebounds – 39 whole, tied for second-most of the season – and placing the work in on each possession, the ’Cats made up for his or her offensive weaknesses.
“It’s not gonna be pretty every game,” head coach Chris Collins stated in a post-game press convention. “Some games are gonna be a dogfight, where it’s defense, and shots aren’t flying in… You gotta grind out every possession and you just gotta figure out how to win, and that’s what we did.”
As Northwestern enters the final month of the convention season and appears in direction of postseason play, each sport issues. To set themselves up for an NCAA event bid, the ’Cats want to carry out of their remaining three home matchups and hopefully decide up a win on the highway. They’ll get their subsequent alternative at Rutgers (13-10, 5-7 B1G) on Feb. 15. This season, Northwestern has but to face the Scarlet Knights, who received large on Saturday towards #11 Wisconsin (16-8, 8-5 B1G).
“This was a must-win,” Collins stated of Northwestern’s victory. “For our guys to really grind it out today, a really good testament to the will in our locker room, and a really good step forward for us as we go on the road to Rutgers on Thursday.”
Thumbnail photograph by AJ Anderson/North by Northwestern.
