Northwestern has played two overtime games this season, both against Penn State and both ending in a loss.

“We’re disappointed,” coach Chris Collins said. “We were excited about this tournament, being home, being in Chicago. We had a great turnout tonight — students are here. We wanted to do our part and advance and keep playing, but it didn’t happen.”

The Wildcats (21-11, 12-8 Big Ten) entered the United Center rested and refreshed, nearly a week removed from a 65-53 victory on the road at Rutgers — a game they dominated for 40 minutes. The win was a significant boost amid a rather dry spell from NU. The Cats had fallen at home to the Nittany Lions just a few days prior to cap off a three-game skid. 

Despite ample rest, Friday’s game was one with marked similarities to last week’s Senior Night affair. The scores were nearly identical, the duo of senior guard Boo Buie and sophomore guard Brooks Barnhizer didn’t get much scoring help and, ultimately, the end result was the same. 

NU and Penn State’s second meeting was a “rock fight,” Collins said, a battle of wills between two teams locked in a low-scoring brawl. After 12 minutes of basketball, the two teams combined to hit just 8-of-33 shot attempts for 21 points.

“Neither team shot the ball well tonight,” Collins said. “Two teams playing really hard, but neither offense could really get going.”

Though both teams struggled to get the ball through the nylon early, the Cats were handicapped by their wasted opportunities. NU took advantage of its size advantage down low, snagging six offensive boards in the first frame , but generated only eight second-chance points. A host of Cats also missed solid looks at the rim, ones they would expect to convert on a regular basis. 

The cold shooting spread across the team like wildfire. Seemingly every player in a white uniform was affected, in particular junior guard Ty Berry and redshirt senior guard Chase Audige. Berry failed to connect on any of his first-half shot attempts,while Audige’s extended shooting woes persisted for another game as he went into halftime with two points on 1-of-6 from the field.

Still, NU’s calling card all season, its defense, kept it squarely in the game. 

“We defended them much better tonight than we did last week when we played them,” Collins said. “We did a much better job tonight of our rotations. We contested shots.”

After conceding 13 triples in the first meeting , including the game-winner to guard Camren Wynter, the Cats held the Nittany Lions to 3-of-9 from deep in the first 20 minutes and forced seven turnovers. Buie highlighted the team’s commitment to sounder defensive rotations as a means to stymieing Penn State’s success from beyond the arc.

Out of halftime, the Nittany Lions knocked NU back on their heels courtesy of a quick 6-0 spurt. After exchanging blows to keep the game within seven points, a 45-second, 5-0 mini-run from Barnhizer with nine minutes to play trimmed the Penn State advantage to two points. 

“I saw our two leading scorers on the bench, and I knew we needed some offense from somewhere,” Barnhizer said of the sequence. “On the first one, he was pretty low, so I got a pretty good look at a three. The second one because I hit three, he came up so I was able to sneak and get to the basket.”

Barnhizer’s stretch illustrated the ever-growing trust Collins and his staff have in his ability to lead this offense, especially in light of Audige’s recent shooting woes. Still, as Barnhizer said, the run and late push was all for naught. 

Nittany Lion forward Seth Lundy] was the hero on Friday — not Barnhizer or Buie who combined 31 of the Cats’ 65 points — burying a jumper in the lane to push the game into overtime and then hitting the game-winning triple with seven seconds left to send NU packing. 

Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry defined the game as “gritty, not pretty.” In the two teams’ second meeting, the Nittany Lions were once again the grittier side, able to eke out another victory late, this time by two points, 67-65. 

Despite dropping four of its last five games, Collins’ resolve in this team didn’t waver postgame, but he recognized that adjustments need to be made. Now, just days away from the program’s second ever NCAA Tournament appearance being finalized, the Cats have a few days to course correct. 

“Really proud of my team,” Collins said. “We’ve got to play better. When you get to this time of the year, you’ve got to play better on both ends if you want to advance in these tournaments. Hopefully this will be a lesson for us.”

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