Northwestern students left the United Center heartbroken as the Wildcats endured a 67-65 overtime loss against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Friday.
The Wildcats arrived on day three of the tournament ready to face Penn State after
Northwesten’s loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena last week.
“We hung in. It was a long game. We hung in,” coach Chris Collins said. “We kept fighting.”
Northwestern ended the first half ahead at 26-25 after a series of tense offensive plays.
The Nittany Lions made 9-25 shots compared to Northwestern’s 9-32. The Northwestern offense was no match for Penn State, though their defense was sufficient to maintain their one-point lead.
The second half saw improved stats for both teams, and it ended with Northwestern and Penn State tied at 56.
Penn State excelled with greater rebound skills and more accuracy, but Northwestern kept their game on and maintained a close game throughout the half.
Boo Buie was Northwestern’s top scorer with 16 points, similar to Seth Lundy’s 16 for Penn
State.
The teams huddled on the sidelines and prepared for the first overtime match of the
tournament thus far.
In a tense five-minute overtime, Penn State scored 11 points against Northwestern’s nine.
Northwestern, unable to follow through, still remained optimistic.
Northwestern had just won against Rutgers and hoped to continue their luck in the tournament.
While their defense prevailed, they fell behind offensively and couldn’t manage enough shots to climb on top over time.
“We just take it one game at a time,” said Boo Buie, Northwestern guard and top-scoring player. “[It’s] just like any other night, though, you win some, you lose some, but you’ve got to come back with the same attitude.”
Penn State moves on to play Indiana Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the second round of the semi-finals.