Brooks leads Penn State over Northwestern

PENN STATE 66 – NORTHWESTERN 52
After grabbing an early lead, Penn State routed the Northwestern Wildcats, bouncing back from a loss against Wisconsin on Sunday. The Lions dominated defensicely, holding Northwestern to a single basket for just under half of the first half.

The Lions moved the ball especially well early. With an assist from Tim Frazier, senior David Jackson sank a jumper exactly one minute into the game to give the Lions the early lead; less than 30 seconds later, Frazier scored on a pretty assist from Talor Battle. Continuing the pattern, Battle put up a 3-pointer after a great look from Jackson. Penn State led 18-4 early.

John Shurna put his name all over the stat sheet for Northwestern, sinking four free throws and a 3-pointer in the span of five minutes to help the Wildcats get back into the game, and eventually pull within three. The Lions took a 26-23 lead into the locker room.

Crawford came out early for Northwestern in an attempt to pull ahead and came within one of Penn State. Jackson responded quickly and Battle added two more to the Lions' score. The game remained relatively close until PSU went on a late scoring run and Northwestern never got back to within five points for the rest of the game.

Battle scored five points in the final minute and a half to solidify the win for Penn State.

TOP PERFORMERS
Penn State: J. Brooks 20 Pts, 7 Reb, 3 Ast
Northwestern: M. Thompson 22 Pts, 2 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl

STAT SHEET
Penn State: From the floor: 26-45 (57.8%); From the line: 10-12 (83.3%); Three-pointers: 4-13 (30.8%)
Northwestern: From the floor: 20-52 (38.5%); From the line: 6-9 (66.7%); Three-pointers: 6-23 (26.1%)

NEXT UP
Northwestern heads out to Wisconsin Sunday night to take on the Badgers at 6:00 p.m. Penn State comes home to face off against the Ohio State Buckeyes Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m.