Penn State Erases 10 Point Deficit to Defeat Northwestern
Seth Lundy and Jalen Pickett made pivotal plays down the stretch helping Penn State erase a 10 point deficit and capture a huge road victory defeating Northwestern 74-70.
With the win, the Nittany Lions improve to 2-2 in Big Ten play.
The blue and white finished the final 10 minutes of the contest on a 31-17 run. Not only did Penn State play stout defense, but it made shots to close out the game. The Nittany Lions made 11 of their last 12 free throws and nine of their last 13 field goals.
“What they did to respond down the stretch to be down, come back make some big shots but also some big stops… I thought they did a great job of adjusting. It is hard to win on the road no matter where you go,” said coach Micah Shrewsberry.
Starting center John Harrar scored Penn State’s first seven points after some aggressive takes to the basket. However, the Nittany Lions struggled to score the rest of the half finishing with 29 points.
A big reason why Penn State remained in the matchup came from the rebounding battle. They finished the first half with eight offensive rebounds and won the rebounding battle 40-28. This was also a pivotal factor that contributed to its big win over Indiana.
“They don’t let people get offensive rebounds. We didn’t start the game great offensively, but we were on the glass even when they were hitting their threes,” said Shrewsberry.
Penn State had several bench players who played valuable minutes in this game. Forward Jalanni White had one point, but his efforts helped him grab seven rebounds alongside a big-time block.
Guard Dallion Johnson also came into the game during the second half to help speed up the offensive cutting. He came in and cut hard off the ball which led to him hitting a big-time three during the Penn State run.
“You got to give him opportunities. The kid is fearless man. We are going to need him,” said Shrewsberry about Johnson’s gameplay.
Lundy struggled in the first half, however, as the game progressed he picked up his play. The forward hit two contested three-pointers, one of which being an and one. Lundy finished the night with 23 points.
“He was locked in the entire night. The way he’s play offensively, that’s what big-time players are supposed to do,” said Shrewsberry about Lundy’s performance.
The dagger came when guard Myles Dread made a touchdown pass to Lundy which resulted in a Lundy and one that put Penn State up six with 11 seconds to go.
“It reminded me of a football play,” said Lundy about the and one down the stretch, “It was a perfect pass from Myles.”
Penn State is now on a two-game winning streak and hosts No. 3 Purdue on Jan. 8. FOr Shrewsberry, he gets the opportunity to go up against his former team.
Shrewsberry had a message to all Penn Staters regarding the upcoming game vs Purdue:
“We need your help Nittany Nation. We need you to show up being as loud as possible to help these guys and let’s have some fun on Saturday.”
Austin Groft is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email atg5271@psu.edu
