It was the game that wouldn’t end.
Northwestern and Penn State battled through an ugly first half, waited out a 10-minute lighting delay, played two tense overtimes and pre-empted a major NBA showdown Saturday before the Wildcats finally claimed an 85-79 home victory.
“It was so long and so exhausting, but everybody did what they needed to do to win,” guard Jitim Young said after leading the Cats with 26 points in his first overtime game at NU.
All game long the Cats (11-14, 3-11 Big Ten) leapt in front only to see the Nittany Lions (6-19, 1-13) climb back. But with one minute remaining in the second overtime, Winston Blake hit a baseline jumper to put the Cats up 79-76. Six NU free throws and one garbage-time 3-pointer from Brandon Watkins later, the game was over.
The Cats had chances at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime to win the game, but senior Jason Burke and freshman T.J. Parker rimmed out on 3-point attempts.
The overtime affected people outside NU, too. Many viewers across the nation turned their television sets to ESPN at 3 p.m. expecting to catch the beginning of an NBA game between the Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs. But instead of a match-up of two of the best teams in the Western Conference, they caught a battle between the two worst teams in the Big Ten.
The first half lived up to the game’s billing as a battle of Big Ten cellar-dwellers. The teams combined to make just 19 of 54 shots (35 percent) before the break. NU’s pressure defense forced the Nittany Lions into 10 turnovers, allowing Young and the Cats’ quick backcourt to score in transition, but NU struggled in its half-court offense.
“On offense in the first half we were overanxious to beat guys off the dribble,” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “When we ran some plays we executed pretty well, but we never got past two or three passes.”
A lighting problem at halftime left the Penn State end of the court in darkness, delaying the start of the second half for 10 minutes. The extra shootaround time paid off as both teams shot better than 50 percent after the break.
NU was up 51-39 midway through the half, but Watkins led an 18-2 Penn State run that put the visitors in position to extend the game.
NU had no answer for Watkins, a senior guard who scored a career-high 31 points on 13 of 26 shooting. The Chicago-native forced overtime with a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 9 seconds left, then scored 11 of Penn State’s 14 points after regulation.
NU center Aaron Jennings had scored only three points in regulation but took control on the inside in overtime, scoring 12 points.
The Cats made only 27 of 45 free throws on the night. Young went 4-for-10 from the line but said the team’s determination on defense and rebounding made up for the struggles from the charity stripe.
“When you miss big free throws it gives the other team confidence,” Young said. “But I’m proud of everybody that we didn’t sink our heads. Rebounding, defense, getting steals, finding guys — we did those collective things great, and that kind of crossed out the free throws.”
