Men’s Basketball

On another cold Evanston night against another Big Ten opponent, Northwestern was ice-cold early and couldn’t climb all the way back.

The Wildcats (15-4, 3-3 Big Ten) found no scoring rhythm of any kind in the game and suffered an ugly defeat at the hands of Penn State (11-8, 2-4), 71-62. NU shot just 38.8 percent from the field and 3-for-26 from 3 in another home conference defeat, this time at the hands of a Nittany Lions squad sitting near the bottom of the Big Ten.

The loss to a Penn State team not expected to finish among the elites of the conference especially hurts for an NU team attempting to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

Penn State forward Brandon Taylor, the Nittany Lions’ leading scorer, scored 19 points to lead the way for Penn State, while forward Donovon Jack had 14 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. Meanwhile, senior guard Tre Demps scored 22 to lead the way for the Cats, while sophomore guard Bryant McIntosh scored 12 points and dished out 10 assists in his first career double-double.

Senior center Alex Olah returned from a foot injury after missing six games but wasn’t able to spark NU’s offense in limited minutes, going 1-for-4 from the field and struggling with touch after the long layoff. Olah finished with 5 points in 7 minutes.

Coach Chris Collins said Olah was overly anxious in his return to the court.

“I know how badly he wanted to be out there,” Collins said. “He took a couple rushed shots.”

The Cats started slow offensively, as they shot just 28.1 percent from the field and failed to make a 3 in 12 attempts in the first half en route to a 30-23 deficit at the break. NU missed another 6 3-pointers before Demps finally connected from deep with 10:21 remaining in the game.

Collins said he told his team at halftime to focus on getting the ball to the rim and to keep shooting open shots.

“I told them to flush whatever happened,” Collins said. “I felt we were in decent position because we had made nothing and we were only down 7.”

Penn State led by as many as 18 in the second half, giving the Nittany Lions enough cushion to withstand a late NU run that made the final score more respectable for the home team. The Cats outscored Penn State 26-17 over the game’s final eight minutes.

Two 3s from Demps and freshman forward Aaron Falzon cut the score to 57-46, breathed life into the stadium and forced a Penn State timeout with just under four minutes left in the game, but the Nittany Lions hit their free throws late and NU’s comeback attempt fell short.

Demps said a lack of confidence early kept the Cats from playing their best ball offensively early.

“It’s a good lesson for our team,” he said. “We have to get on the attack, be aggressive, be confident.”

NU tried to hang in the game despite its shooting struggles by winning the turnover battle and hitting the offensive glass. Penn State turned the ball over 13 times in the game to the Cats’ 4, while NU snared 12 offensive boards to boost their scuffling offense.

But NU’s inability to score early made the comeback too much to ask of the Cats, as the Nittany Lions did just enough late to hand NU a third Big Ten home loss in four tries.

The Cats will look to get back on track as they travel to No. 3 Maryland on Tuesday.

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