It wasn’t exactly an advertisement for Big Ten basketball, which some of its coaches have proclaimed is the toughest conference in the nation.
For much of the night, Penn State’s 67-65 overtime win over Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals Friday more closely resembled a finger painting than a Picasso.
But no one from the Nittany Lions was complaining afterward.
The win vaulted the No. 10 seed into Saturday’s semifinals against No. 3 seed Indiana, which beat Maryland 70-60. With No. 13 seed Ohio State also winning, the Big Ten will have two double-digit seeds in the semis.
Northwestern will have to lick its wounds and await word from the NCAA Tournament selection committee Sunday for its first-round assignment.
“I didn’t think it was a beautiful game to watch, but I thought it was an incredibly hard-played game by both sides,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said.
Penn State star Jalen Pickett scored five of his 15 points in overtime, including two free throws that gave the Nittany Lions a four-point lead they would not relinquish.
Boo Buie purposely missed a free-throw attempt in the waning seconds of OT and the Wildcats grabbed the loose ball for one last shot, but Chase Audige’s game-tying attempt was off, ending their stay in the tournament. Buie led Northwestern with 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting.
“Fitting way for that game to end,” Collins said, calling it a “rock fight” of misfires.
Northwestern shot a miserable 31.8% (21-for-66) from the field and was 25% (6-for-24) from 3-point range. It was a collectively ugly effort by the Wildcats, who earned a No. 2 seed in the tournament but failed to look the part.
“We’ve got to play better,” Collins said. “When you get to this time of the year you’ve got to play better if you want to dance in the (NCAA) tournament.”
While it was a packed house at the United Center on Friday, much of the crowd was wearing red in anticipation of the Hoosiers’ appearance in the nightcap.
The game went into overdrive when Wildcat guard Ty Berry, who was 0-for-9 from the field with 2:32 left in regulation, sank a 3-pointer from the top of the circle that got a friendly bounce and went in, putting NU on top and sending the crowd into a frenzy.
After the Nittany Lions tied it, Pickett missed two free throws, and Robbie Beran made a layup with 1:08 left to put the Wildcats ahead again. But Seth Lundy’s bucket tied it, and both teams missed attempts in the final seconds to send the game into overtime for the second time in nine days.
Northwestern lost to Penn State on March 1 at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Camron Wynter’s 3 just before the overtime buzzer.
It was another heartbreaker for the Wildcats, who spent much of the season trying to disprove the skeptics who didn’t think they were for real despite their record and standing in the free-for-all near the top of the conference.
After Friday night, they’re likely going to have to do a lot more convincing to persuade anyone to pick them to advance in the NCAA Tournament in office pools.
Northwestern fans didn’t have much to shout about for the first 30 minutes but finally had a chance to erupt with just less than 10 minutes left. Brooks Barnhizer ended a 1-for-9 skid with a 3 and followed with a reverse layup, and Audige’s jumper tied it up with 7:45 remaining. Neither team could pull away down the stretch, setting up the intense finish.
It started out as poorly as it ended.
The Wildcats got off to a shaky start after being off since Monday with the double-bye. Matt Nicholson botched a dunk attempt on the first shot, setting the tone for the night, and Northwestern missed two layups while starting 0-for-4 from the field.
They missed 13 of their first 15 field-goal attempts in the opening nine minutes, including five layups, and would go on to miss 8 of their 10 layups in the half. Buie threw up air balls on back-to-back 3s at one point and shot three air balls in the half, finishing with eight points in the session.
But Penn State was equally cold, going scoreless until a 3-pointer by Michael Henn five minutes in and hitting only 2 of its first 12 shots. The Nittany Lions were 5-for-20 from the field before hitting four straight shots near the end of the half. Fortunately for Northwestern, the Wildcats took a 26-25 lead in the locker room in spite of shooting 28.1% and going 2-for-13 from 3-point range.
After time to regroup, the Wildcats returned and followed the same script, missing the first five shots and nine of their first 10 to let the Nittany Lions build a seven-point lead. It proved to be short-lived, setting up another wild ending.
At one point the Nittany Lions were 5-9 in Big Ten play, and now they’re headed to the semis and will get an NCAA bid.
“I was saying to myself, I can’t go out without that (NCAA Tournament) experience,” Lundy said. “We really believe in each other and knew we’d be a really good team if everybody was locked in and focused. Ever since then we’ve been on a rampage.”
Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said he couldn’t stop smiling and “pinching myself” this weekend in Chicago.
“We never want this thing to end,” he said.
It’s all over this weekend for the Wildcats, but they’ll get another shot to redeem themselves next week in the NCAA Tournament.
