Penn State doomed by poor offensive stretch in loss to Northwestern

On a night when Penn State’s offense couldn’t get going, freshman guard Josh Reaves made a pair of defensive plays to get the Nittany Lions back in the game.

Reaves blocked a 3-point attempt by Northwestern’s Tre Demps, who fueled the Wildcats offense with 19 first-half points. The blocked shot fell in the hands of Shep Garner, who found Isaiah Washington for a 3-pointer in transition.

The next time down the floor, Reaves corralled a steal and found Brandon Taylor for a breakaway layup to bring Penn State within eight points with more than nine minutes to play after trailing by as many as 20. The Nittany Lions kept it close the rest of the way but never got closer than four points in a 71-61 loss to Northwestern on Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.

“It was too late for us when we finally woke up and competed,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said.

The Nittany Lions (15-15, 6-11) and Wildcats (19-11, 7-10) came into the night tied for ninth place in the Big Ten. Penn State has dropped into a tie for 10th place with Nebraska going into its final game.

The Nittany Lions host Illinois at noon Sunday.

Taylor led Penn State with 17 points on 7 for 14 shooting on Senior Night. Garner added 13 points and seven assists, and Reaves had 11 points and five assists.

“It was an emotional night,” Taylor said. “… Everybody wants to play good. Everybody wants to have their best game (on Senior Night).”

Penn State was doomed by a poor offensive stretch Thursday night.

The Nittany Lions went without a field goal for more than nine minutes spanning the end of the first half and start of the second half.

Northwestern turned a four-point lead into a 15-point halftime lead as the Nittany Lions missed four shots and turned it over three times in the final five minutes of the first half. The offensive struggles continued out of the break, with Penn State missing its first four shots and turning it over four times as Northwestern’s lead grew to 20 points.

“I think it was almost they were in shock (of) what was happening,” Chambers said.

Payton Banks ended the drought with a 3-pointer from the corner with 15:23 left.

The Nittany Lions made a comeback and pulled within 53-45 with 9:05 left after Taylor’s layup. Banks followed that with another 3 from the corner to make it a five-point game.

Penn State cut the deficit to 55-51 on a pair of free throws by Garner with less than six minutes left.

But Demps responded with a three-point play for his first points of the second half and the Wildcats reestablished control.

Northwestern coach Chris Collins called Demps’ three-point play “probably the biggest bucket of the game.”

“We dug down and we made a lot of plays,” Collins said.

Demps, who finished with a game-high 23 points, helped Northwestern build a 42-27 lead at halftime.

Demps knocked down his first shot three minutes into the game, connecting on a 3-pointer as Penn State’s Devin Foster couldn’t get around a screen. He later had an open look from 3-point range when teammate Bryant McIntosh found him in the corner, but he pump faked, let a defender go by and drilled a pull-up jumper.

Demps then hit a pair of 3-pointers to help Northwestern take a 23-15 lead.

And with Garner chasing him to the top of the key, Demps got the ball and went straight to the rim for an easy dunk.

That gave the Wildcats an 11-point lead with less than seven minutes left in the first half.

The Nittany Lions responded with a 7-0 run, connecting on their next three shot attempts. But Northwestern outscored Penn State 14-3 to close the first half and take a 15-point lead into the break.

Demps score six points during that run, finishing layups off a curl, drive and breakaway opportunity.

Notes: Taylor, Foster, Donovon Jack and Jordan Dickerson were honored for Senior Night before the game. … Penn State finished with 17 assists and 13 turnovers. … The Nittany Lions shot 40.4 percent from the field for the game. They shot 35.7 percent from the field in the first half. … McIntosh had 17 points for Northwestern. … Northwestern shot 63 percent from the field in the first half.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 11:06 PM with the headline "Penn State doomed by poor offensive stretch in loss to Northwestern."