EVANSTON, Ill. – Penn State men’s basketball placed four in double figures but was ultimately unable to overcome the Northwestern Wildcats on Thursday evening, dropping a 94-73 result inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Blue & White were paced by freshman guard Kayden Mingo, who led the team in scoring for the seventh time this season after turning in a 15-point, four-assist effort. Freshman forward Ivan Jurić contributed 14 points and a team-high six rebounds, senior forward Josh Reed dropped 11 points with three boards, and redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V rounded out the quartet of Nittany Lions in double figures with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State came away with the opening tip, but Northwestern worked its way onto the scoreboard first with a triple from the left corner. Rice answered back shortly thereafter with a triple of his own from the right side of the floor, and both teams exchanged makes from distance over the next few moments to the tune of a 6-6 deadlock. The Wildcats went on a 5-0 scoring run from there to take an 11-6 lead with 15:48 left in the first.
- A reverse layup from Blackwood kicked off a quick 5-0 reply for the Blue & White, but a triple by Northwestern slowed the Penn State momentum. The scoring balanced itself out over the next few minutes, with PSU managing to counter Northwestern’s offensive successes and ultimately take a 24-23 advantage at the 9:10 mark of the opening stanza. Mingo answered a Wildcat triple with a pair of makes at the charity stripe, but a layup the other way resulted in a 28-26 Northwestern lead at the under-eight.
- The home squad managed to pull away with multiple jumpers raining down, culminating in a seven-point Northwestern advantage. An answer from the left corner by Stewart cut the lead back to four, and PSU stayed within two possessions over the next few minutes. A personal 7-2 run from Jurić made it a one-point game just before Northwestern connected from inside the arc to make it 43-40. Another bucket by the Wildcats before the break cemented a 45-40 halftime score.
- PSU capitalized on more chances at the free throw line as the second half got underway, and a layup by Mingo saw the Blue & White stay within five points of the lead. From there, Northwestern went on a 6-0 scoring run that forced the Nittany Lions into a timeout trailing 55-44 with 16:07 to go. A triple from Jurić, helped keep PSU in the hunt, and a 6-0 scoring run powered by Reed and Mingo prompted a Wildcat timeout at the 12:45 mark.
- Mingo found Jurić for an emphatic slam dunk on the other side of the short break, but Northwestern was able to break the PSU run up with a layup the other way. The Nittany Lions cut the Wildcat lead down to six, but an 11-0 scoring response by NU resulted in a 78-61 Wildcat advantage with just over six to go. Baskets fell both ways down the stretch, but Northwestern remained in control en route to closing out the 94-73 result.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State falls to 9-12 overall and 0-10 in Big Ten Conference play, while Northwestern improves to 10-11 and 2-8 in the B1G.
- Freshman guard Kayden Mingo led the Nittany Lions in scoring for the seventh time this season and reached double figures for the 14th time. The Farmingdale, New York, native mustered 15 points with four rebounds and two assists against the Wildcats.
- Freshman forward Ivan Jurić continued his run of individual success in the scoring column, logging his ninth collegiate double-digit scoring performance in addition to his second consecutive. The Zagreb, Croatia, native logged 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor with a make from distance, adding six rebounds and a career-best quartet of assists.
- Redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V turned in his second double-digit scoring effort in the last three Big Ten games, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.
- Senior forward Josh Reed mustered 11 points with three rebounds, cracking double figures for the fifth-straight B1G game and sixth such performance in the last seven opportunities. Reed has scored 10 points or more in 11 times this season.
- Freshman guard Melih Tunca led the Nittany Lions in assists with five, pacing the team in that category for the fifth time this season while logging five helpers or more in a game for the third time at the collegiate level.
- Penn State utilized the starting lineup of Jurić, Mingo, Stewart, Reed and Rice for the fourth game in a row, moving to 0-4 when starting with that group.
UP NEXT
- Penn State returns home for its Coaches vs. Cancer and Alumni Day Game Sunday afternoon when the Nittany Lions host Minnesota at 2 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Five dollars from every ticket purchased at this link will be donated to the Penn State chapter of Coaches vs. Cancer.