Jan. 13, 2000
Postgame Audio:
? Coach O'Neill
? Steve
? Brody
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Jarrett Stephens scored 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds as Penn State snapped a three-game losing streak with an 82-49 win over Northwestern on Thursday night.
Joe Crispin scored 14 points, Titus Ivory added 11 and freshman Brandon Watkins had a career-high 10 points for the Nittany Lions (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten). Penn State shot 32-of-54 from the floor (59 percent) and outrebounded the undersized Wildcats 36-21.
Ben Johnson scored 13 points to lead Northwestern (4-10, 0-2). Freshman Brody Deren scored 12 in his first action since breaking his left elbow in Northwestern's 56-49 win over Nicholls State on Dec. 11.
The Nittany Lions led 19-6 after Carl Jackson scored inside with 12:16 left in the first half.
Northwestern's Steve Lepore hit a rebound putback with 11:10 remaining in the opening half and made a layup with 10:25 left to trim the deficit to nine.
But Penn State outscored Northwestern 26-5 over the final 10 minutes of the first half as the Wildcats went 0-for-8 from the floor and committed nine turnovers during that span.
The Wildcats shot 23 percent (5-of-22), got outrebounded 21-13 and committed 14 turnovers in the first half. Penn State led 45-15 at halftime, it was Northwestern's largest halftime deficit of the season.
Northwestern got no closer than 29 in the second half.