Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
13-14, 4-10
Penn State
15-13, 3-12
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State | 20 | 19 | 39 |
| Northwestern | 28 | 32 | 60 |
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Defense Leads Northwestern to Third Straight Win, 60-39
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern allowed its fewest points in a Big Ten game in 10 years and freshman Vic Law recorded his first career double-double as the Wildcats trounced Penn State 60-39 Saturday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Nittany Lions' point total was the fewest by an NU league opponent since a 54-39 victory by the 'Cats over Penn State on Feb. 19, 2005.
Law's 17 points and 11 rebounds were both career highs. Tre Demps added 16 points while Bryant McIntosh tied a career high with 8 assists. Alex Olah had two blocked shots, bringing his career total to 136 which matches John Shurna for the Northwestern career record.
The Nittany Lions came out firing, drilling four quick 3-pointers - two in jumping out to a 12-3 lead. However, the Wildcats' defense clamped down as it forced 8 turnovers over the opening 10 minutes of play to help them rattle off 12 straight points to take a 15-12 lead.
Yet another PSU 3-pointer tied the game 15-15 when Northwestern's solid defense shut the visitors down. The 'Cats tallied another 7 points in a row, making it a 19-3 run and putting Northwestern up 22-15 with 4:30 remaining in the half.
The Wildcats eventually took a 28-20 halftime lead, holding the Nittany Lions to 26.9 percent shooting (7-26).
A layup by Olah and a slam dunk by Demps to open the second half forced Penn State to burn an early timeout. The advantage grew to 14 before the Nittany Lions finally heated up. A 10-point run by the visitors got them within 38-34 with 11 minutes to go.
However, Sanjay Lumpkin drew and offensive foul and Demps nailed a 3-pointer before Law hit one of his own to push the lead back to 10. Northwestern allowed only five points over the last 11 minutes, finishing the game on a 22-5 surge.
Penn State senior D.J. Newbill entered the game leading the Big Ten with an average of 21.1 points per game but the Wildcats held him to a mere 3 points and they didn't come until just 1:24 remained in the contest.
NU finished the contest with a 15-0 edge in points off turnovers while the Wildcats' bench out-scored PSU's 29-10.
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Indiana at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tickets are available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.
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