Pennlive's David Jones probably said it best: 

Penn State wins ugly, something it has rarely done, in vital victory at Northwestern to rekindle NCAA flame 

This game was not pretty.  In particular, the first half. Neither team looked good during the first 20 minutes but Penn State was particularly bad with 9 turnovers during the half.  But somehow, the Lions kept things close, trailing only 28-24 at the half.  Then things improved for both teams.

Northwestern's game plan was simple: follow the same game strategy used by Rutgers last Sunday night and double team Pickett.  This time, however, Penn State responded with good shooting by Wynter, Funk and Lundy (24, 17 and 14 points respectively).  But Northwestern responded with good shooting as well from Boo Buie (20) and Brooks Barhizer (19).

A last second shoot by Jalen Pickett rolled off the rim at the end of regular time in the game, leaving the teams tied at 61-61.  A 5 minute OT session followed with both teams again tied at 65-65 with only seconds left.  Moving in for a final shot, Pickett's shot hit the rim and freshman Evan Maheffey got the rebound, passing off to Andrew Funk for what appeared to be the final shot of OT.  Funk instead found an open Camren Wynter who sank a 3 pointer with only 0.7 seconds left on the clock once the ball went in. A magical example of strategic ball handling with little time left in the game.

A critical win against a Quad 1 opponent (Northwestern was ranked #21 nationally back on Feb 20th).  This keeps an NCAA tournament birth a possibility and may help with an NIT birth if Penn State gets passed over for the big stage.

Game Highlights:

Penn State vs Northwestern Basketball Game Highlights 3 1 2023 - YouTube