Men’s Basketball

With 5 minutes remaining in Thursday’s game against Penn State, senior guard Tre Demps drove into the lane, floated in the air through contact and gently rolled the ball over the rim for the finish and a foul. He made the free throw, giving the Wildcats a 58-51 edge.

It was a pretty play — and a crucial one — stemming the tide of a big Penn State (15-15, 6-11 Big Ten) run and putting Northwestern (19-11, 7-10) back on track in a 71-61 victory.

“Tre’s 3-point play … was probably the biggest bucket of the game, because we were bleeding a little bit,” coach Chris Collins said. “He drove in there — it was a real strong move.”

The Wildcats held a 20-point lead with less than 17 minutes remaining after sophomore guard Bryant McIntosh scored an uncontested breakaway layup, forcing a timeout from the Nittany Lions with the score 47-27 in favor of the road team. But slowly and surely, Penn State climbed back.

Over the next 11 minutes, Nittany Lions forward Brandon Taylor scored 7 of his 17 points and assisted on another basket. Forward Payton Banks and guard Isaiah Washington each hit a pair of 3s, and a pair of free throws by Penn State guard Shep Garner capped a 24-8 run for the Nittany Lions, cutting NU’s lead to just 55-51 with less than 6 minutes left in the game.

Meanwhile, the Cats’ offense went cold as Penn State extended its pressure, attempting to exploit NU’s weakness against the press. The Cats turned the ball over three times during that run and repeatedly struggled to get decent looks offensively.

For a large part of the second half, NU was outplayed and nearly paid the price. But after Demps’ and-1 finish, Penn State didn’t get closer than 5 for the rest of the game.

It’s not the first time a big play from Demps bailed the Cats out — but with just one game left in the regular season, it could be his last. With Sunday’s Senior Night approaching, Demps isn’t worried about that.

“We have an opportunity to get 20 wins,” Demps said. “We’re excited for the opportunity. It’s bigger than this team.”

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