Big Ten Tournament: Penn State upends Northwestern in 67-65 slugfest

Northwestern was tamed by Penn State for the second time in nine days, as the Nittany Lions stunned the No. 2 seed in overtime, 67-65.

Just nine days ago, Northwestern and Penn State met in the Wildcats’ regular season home finale, where the Nittany Lions kept their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

Nine days later, this time in front of a sold-out United Center crowd, the Wildcats (21-11) and Nittany Lions (21-12) delivered another instant classic, and once again, they needed overtime to knock off No. 2-seed NU, 67-65. A Chase Audige potential game-winner fell just short as the upsets in Chicago progressed with two days of tournament play remaining.

Penn State, another low seed, now finds itself in the semifinals, as it will face the Indiana-Maryland winner Saturday afternoon.

Penn State is upsetting its way to March Madness

The victory caps off an impressive stretch for a Penn State team that has seen them knock off the likes of Illinois, Ohio State, Maryland, and Northwestern within the last month. They are now just two wins away from clinching an automatic berth in March Madness. It would be their first appearance since 2011 and the 11th in team history.

Seth Lundy and Andrew Funk stepped up big in crunch time, as the pair accounted for 30 of Penn State’s 67 points, including a go-ahead three from Lundy with under a minute left in overtime.

For Northwestern, the upset is not ideal. It was not the dream they had hoped for, especially playing in front of a pro-Wildcat crowd just 30 minutes from Welsh-Ryan Arena. But, there are positives.

“Yeah, I mean, obviously, I’ve talked about it over the last couple weeks when it looked like [an NCAA Tournament] appearance was gonna happen for us,” Collins said after the loss. “What these guys have done this year, the way they’ve rallied around each other and the coaching staff. Everyone knows coming into this year, there was a lot of negativity and outside noise about where we were, where we were headed. We never wavered.”

Like Collins’ 2016-17 group, name value was not a factor, which led guys like Brooks Barnhizer to commit to the Wildcats. Granted, they are not a basketball powerhouse nor a consistent national title contender, but Barnhizer wanted a chance to build something from the ground up.

“I think it’s been really special [to be part of Northwestern basketball] just because when you think about the guys that we got, you notice how close-knit we are,” Barnhizer said. “[We] just kinda gotta have that push to get over [the hump]. And I feel like this summer is where all of this started. We all came together and we all told each other, ‘It’s gonna be this year.’ It stings that we couldn’t get this one tonight, but I know there is a lot of positives ahead for us and a lot to look forward to. It does mean a lot [to be with this group of guys].”

Barnhizer finished with 15 points for the Wildcats and has continued to impress as the season has worn on.

Selection Sunday is next up for Northwestern basketball

The Wildcats will await their tournament seeding, location, and opponent on Sunday evening as Chicago’s Big Ten Team looks to make a remarkable run in March.

NU’s No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament was the highest in program history.