Northwestern
Penn St
Men's Basketball Edges Penn State, 62-61
2/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2001
Box Score | Postgame Audio
EVANSTON, Ill. - Tavaras Hardy scored four of his 23 points in the final minute, and Jitim Young's layup with just seconds remaining Wednesday night sealed Northwestern's 62-61 victory over Penn State.
After losing 32 regular-season Big Ten games in a row, Northwestern (10-17, 2-12) has now won two this season. They also dealt a blow to Penn State's NCAA hopes. At 16-8 overall (6-7 in the Big Ten), the Nittany Lions now face games against Michigan State, Iowa and Ohio State to close out the regular season.
Joe Crispin gave Penn State a 59-56 lead by hitting a pair of free throws with 1:26 left. But Hardy came right back with an off-balance layup.
After Titus Ivory missed a long jumper, Tyler Smith fouled Hardy in the scramble for the rebound. Hardy made both foul shots, giving Northwestern a 60-59 lead with 45 seconds left.
Joe Crispin raced down the floor and hit a floater in the lane, before Young answered with his own layup coming off a screen by Hardy. Crispin had one more chance, but his shot at the buzzer missed.
Winston Blake had 12 points, and Young and Collier Drayton added 10 each for the Wildcats. Ben Johnson, the team's second-leading scorer, had just two points but dished out a career-high 10 assists and had no turnovers.
Ivory led the Nittany Lions with 18 points, including 12 from 3-point range. Joe Crispin and Gyasi Cline-Heard added 15 each, and Smith had 11. Cline-Heard also had 10 rebounds.
Joe Crispin hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 37 with 16:44 to play, but the Nittany Lions went the next 6:12 without a field goal and the Wildcats took advantage.
Make that, Hardy took advantage. Hardy scored all but two points in Northwestern's 12-2 run that gave the Wildcats a 49-39 lead with 12:03 to play.
But Penn State wasn't going to go away that easy. A pair of free throws from Tyler Smith and another 3-pointer from Joe Crispin got Penn State back in the game.
Smith tied it up with a three-point play, and Cline-Heard gave the Nittany Lions a 53-51 lead on a dunk with 6:17 left.
In the first half, Cline-Heard had back-to-back dunks, and Joe Crispin made a pair of free throws to give Penn State a 25-18 lead with 3:31 left in the half.
But the Wildcats, who looked out of sync early, finally got it together. Ben Johnson's putback of his own miss sparked a 12-0 run that gave Northwestern a 32-27 lead at halftime.
Northwestern is back in action Saturday night, playing its home regular-season finale against Ohio State. Tip time is 7 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
