Feb. 24, 2011
Box Score |
Quotes
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Site: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Score: Penn State 66, Northwestern 52
Records: NU (16-11, 6-10 Big Ten), Penn State (15-12, 8-8 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, Feb. 27 -- at Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 5 p.m.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Michael Thompson scored a game-high 22 points and collected his 500th career assist, but Northwestern wasn't able to make it all the way back from an early deficit in falling 66-52 to Penn State Thursday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Similar to the first contest between the teams this season back on Feb. 13, Northwestern started slowly. The Wildcats had three early turnovers and missed eight of their first nine shots. Meanwhile, Penn State was red-hot, connecting on eight of its first nine tries in surging out to an 18-2 lead seven minutes into the contest.
However, NU refused to go away. The hosts scored the game's next 10 points, capped by consecutive 3-pointers by John Shurna and Thompson to get right back in the game at 18-12.
Back-to-back buckets by the Nittany Lions pushed their lead back up to 10, but Northwestern answered with seven straight as a 17-4 run all told made it a one-possession game at 22-19 with six minutes left in the opening stanza.
Penn State would eventually take a 26-23 advantage into the break as the Wildcats held the visitors to 3-of-13 shooting to finish the half following their hot start. NU was able to hang in the game by converting nine PSU turnovers into 14 points.
A basket by Drew Crawford to open the second half closed the gap to one point. Two field goals by the Nittany Lions pushed their lead back to five before Crawford hit again to make it a three-point game.
The Wildcats had three shots at getting closer, but missed good looks each time. A layup by Shurna made it 32-29 with 14:14 to go and Crawford had an open look at a triple to tie the game, but again Northwestern failed to convert.
A Thompson 3-pointer got the Wildcats within 34-32 with 12:21 left, but the 'Cats were never able to get over the hump. Nine straight points by the Nittany Lions made it an 11-point game.
Off an inbounds play with 3:30 remaining, Crawford took a feed from Thompson, laid it in and got fouled. The assist was Thompson's fourth of the game and the 500th of his career, making him the first player in school history to accomplish the feat. The three-point play made it a seven-point game, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get.
Thompson connected on nine of 16 field goal attempts in the contest, including four of six from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the rest of the Wildcats combined to make just 11 of 36 attempts, including two of 18 from 3-point range.
Jeff Brooks led Penn State with 20 points, while Tim Frazier had 10 assists.
Northwestern returns to action at 5 p.m. Sunday as it travels to take on 12th-ranked Wisconsin.
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