Penn State flounders in 60-39 loss to Northwestern
By Emily Stock | Sat, 02/21/2015 - 19:12
Penn State shot 27 percent from the field and 29 percent from the free throw line as Northwestern throttled the Nittany Lions 60-39 in Evanston on Saturday.
Penn State (15-13, 3-12 Big Ten) paid a visit to Evanston, Il on Saturday afternoon for a Big Ten matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats (13-14, 4-10 Big Ten), the only regular season matchup between the two teams.
The Nittany Lions looked to redeem themselves after coming off a 55-47 loss to 5th ranked Wisconsin on Feb. 18.
Penn State had the upper hand early, taking a 12-3 lead as the first five baskets scored in the game were 3-pointers. The Nittany Lions were silenced for a seven-minute span, however, and Northwestern eventually tied the game 15-15.
The remainder of the contest was simply a game of catch-up for Penn State, as the Wildcats out-scored the Lions 57-27 over the game’s final 35 minutes.
Geno Thorpe scored 13 points to lead the Nittany Lions.
Penn State scored a season-low point total, making just 15 of 55 shots.
Nittany Lions star D.J. Newbill, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 21.1 points per game, scored only 3 points in the contest. He was scoreless at halftime after shooting 0-4 from the field. Newbill entered the game as the nation’s fifth leading scorer, boasting the highest scoring average by a Penn State player since 1963.
The Nittany Lions have now lost four straight and six of their last seven games.
Penn State will head back to State College to host its final two home games of the season. They will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes next Saturday at 6 PM.
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