Penn State Basketball: Northwestern Snaps Streak, Beats Nittany Lions, 68-56

For the first time since 2007, Penn State fell to Northwestern on Sunday night in Evanston, 68-56. The loss marked the end of a streak of six straight victories against the Wildcats and the second straight defeat for new coach Pat Chambers in conference play.

Tim Frazier once again led the way for the Nittany Lions, scoring 16 points as part of the increasingly consistent trio of Cammeron Woodyard and Jermaine Marshall, who scored 11 and 14 points, respectively.

The Nittany Lions were once again plagued by a slow start but were able to capitalize on the Wildcats’ equally dismal shooting performance to take a 26-23 halftime lead. Penn State, the Big Ten’s leading offensive rebounding team, won the battle on the boards, due largely in part to the great amount of missed shots as the Nittany Lions made only 18 of their 53 attempts.

Billy Oliver, who has become more reliable during Chambers’ inaugural season, struggled to find his stroke, scoring only two points and fouling out with 6:08 left in the game.

Northwestern made up for its first-half struggles, quickly shooting well over 70 percent from the field, at one point having missed only two shots almost 10 minutes into the half. Junior guard Drew Crawford scored 21 points, leading the Wildcats while shooting an effective seven of nine from the field.

Wildcat senior John Shurna, a staple of Northwestern basketball for the past four years, scored 17 points and was a key factor in a second-half run that put the Nittany Lions in a 63-50 hole with 4:54 remaining in the game. Penn State was unable to make a serious run at the Wildcat lead, getting no closer than 55-65 with 1:36 remaining.

Penn State falls to 8-7 (0-2) and will head home to play Purdue on Thursday. The Boilermakers are led by senior Robbie Hummel and are undefeated in conference play.

Related coverage

• StateCollege.com’s Penn State basketball page