Nittany Lions find a way into Big Ten semifinal round
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From Mirror, wire reports
CHICAGO -- Seth Lundy scored 16 points, Jalen Pickett had 15 points and nine rebounds and No. 10 seed Penn State beat second-seeded Northwestern 67-65 in overtime on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
"I'm proud of our guys," Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "Like this is -- I think tonight was the definition of probably gritty, not pretty. We're showing that we can win in a couple different ways. We can go bombs away from 3. We can be a great offensive team. But you can't have that night every night, and here recently, our defense has been really good. If we're not making shots, we can guard people and grind out some tough wins."
It was Penn State's second overtime win over Northwestern in nine days after a 68-65 win on March 1. Now, the Nittany Lions will play Indiana in the semifinals Saturday. The championship game is Sunday. Purdue is playing Ohio State in the other Saturday semifinal.
"Penn State's going to be an NCAA Tournament team, and these are the teams we're going to play as we figure out where we go on Sunday," Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. "We're going to go home. We're going to get rested. We're going to get right, and we're going to be ready to go Thursday or Friday."
Penn State became the second double-digit seed to make the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament this season -- joining No. 13 Ohio State -- after just two had done it in the preview 25 tournaments. The Nittany Lions advanced to their first semifinals since 2018.
Lundy was trapped in the corner and appeared to be tied up, but Penn State was able to call a timeout with 13.7 left in overtime. The Nittany Lions successfully inbounded it and Lundy worked off some time before getting fouled. Lundy made 1 of 2 free throws for a three-point lead and Penn State elected to foul before Northwestern could get a shot off.
"Just having confidence in myself. I'm in the gym every single day. It's nothing new for me," said Lundy on his go-ahead shot. "I felt like I've doing it my whole career. It was a great opportunity. I felt like I was trying to front him anyway and I didn't want to have a turnover. I felt like getting up a shot was better than nothing. I just iso'd him and that was the outcome."
Boo Buie went to the line at 4.7 and made the first of two free throws. He missed the second and the loose ball landed in the hands of Chase Audige, who rushed a shot from 3-point range that rolled off the rim at the buzzer.
Andrew Funk added 14 points for Penn State (21-12) and Kanye Clary added 11.
At the end of regulation, Lundy lost his balance on a drive but gathered it and sank a contested shot in the lane to tie it at 56-all. Northwestern dribbled down the clock and Buie got into the lane but his bank shot bounced off and Penn State chose not to call a timeout. Funk had a good look at a 3-pointer but it hit the back of the iron and Northwestern's half-court heave didn't hit the rim.
"We just fought every single day. Like in practice, we just had a different mentality," Lundy said. "We've really believed in each other, and we knew we'd be a really good team when everybody is locked in and focused. Ever since (struggles mid-season), we've just been on a rampage to just get better every single day and to just go out there and play with confidence."
Buie finished with 16 points and Brooks Barnhizer had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Northwestern (21-11). Ty Berry was 1 of 10 from the field and the Wildcats shot just 32%.
PENN STATE (21-12): Njie 1-2 1-3 3, Funk 3-9 6-6 14, Pickett 4-9 6-9 15, Wynter 1-5 1-4 3, Lundy 5-12 3-5 16, Dread 0-1 0-0 0, Clary 5-10 1-2 11, Henn 2-3 0-0 5, Mahaffey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 18-29 67.
NORTHWESTERN (21-11): Beran 2-3 4-4 9, Nicholson 2-4 0-2 4, Audige 3-14 0-0 6, Berry 1-10 2-2 5, Buie 6-17 2-3 16, Barnhizer 4-13 6-6 15, Martinelli 2-4 1-2 6, Verhoeven 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 21-66 17-21 65.
Halftime--Northwestern 26-25. 3-Point Goals--Penn St. 7-20 (Lundy 3-8, Funk 2-6, Pickett 1-1, Henn 1-2, Clary 0-1, Dread 0-1, Wynter 0-1), Northwestern 6-24 (Buie 2-7, Beran 1-1, Martinelli 1-1, Barnhizer 1-4, Berry 1-8, Audige 0-3). Fouled Out--Wynter. Rebounds--Penn St. 38 (Pickett 9), Northwestern 37 (Barnhizer 11). Assists--Penn St. 6 (Pickett, Clary 2), Northwestern 12 (Buie 4). Total Fouls--Penn St. 20, Northwestern 21.