Northwestern bucks recent history to grab comeback win at Penn State

Field Level Media|published: Wed 10th January, 21:03 2024

Jan 10, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions guard Kanye Clary (0) drives the ball to the basket while being fouled by Northwestern Wildcats forward Nick Martinelli (2) during the first half at Bryce Jordan Center. credits: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Brooks Barnhizer scored 17 of his career-high 23 points after halftime and Boo Buie had 17 points and eight assists to lead visiting Northwestern to a 76-72 victory against Penn State on Wednesday in State College, Pa.

The Wildcats (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) snapped a five-game losing streak against the Nittany Lions in another tight contest between the schools. The past six games in the rivalry have been decided by seven points or less.

Penn State (8-8, 2-3) lost for the second time in three games despite a 25-point night from Kanye Clary and a defense that forced the Wildcats into a season-high 18 turnovers.

Qudus Wahab posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds for Penn State, while Nick Kern had 14 points.

Northwestern fell behind 53-43 with 15:37 to play when Clary scored on a putback of a D'Marco Dunn miss from the outside. The Wildcats responded in a big way, scoring 19 of the game's next 21 points.

Nick Martinelli's basket with 11:25 to go gave the Wildcats their first lead of the night at 56-55. Northwestern surged ahead by as many as seven but Penn State answered, battling back to within three.

Barnhizer swished a 3-pointer with 3:09 to go to push the Wildcats' advantage to six, but Penn State took advantage of Northwestern's sloppiness. Kern's layup off the fast break brought the Nittany Lions within 74-72 with 29 seconds left.

Northwestern's Ryan Langborg split a pair of free throws with 16 seconds to go. Trailing by three points with five seconds left, the Nittany Lions tried to miss a free throw intentionally but were whistled for a lane violation. Barnhizer split a pair of three throws at the other end to seal the game.

Ty Berry scored 16 points for Northwestern, which shot 61.4 percent compared to 46.3 percent for Penn State. Clary has six 20-point games over his past eight.

Penn State led 40-32 at halftime behind 14 points from Clary. The Nittany Lions struggled to a 1-for-10 showing from deep but forced the Wildcats into seven turnovers while committing just four.

For the game the Nittany Lions had a 30-25 edge on the glass.

—Field Level Media