Penn State men’s basketball (8-8, 2-3 Big Ten) fell to Northwestern (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) 76-72 in a back-and-forth Big Ten battle at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions struggled from beyond the arc, going 3-17, which allowed the Wildcats’ comeback win after trailing by as many as 10 points.

Kanye Clary led the way with 25 points and four rebounds while Qudus Wahab picked up his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Ace Baldwin Jr. also totaled eight steals which tied the single-game school-record.

How It Happened

Qudus Wahab won the tip, and the big man found Puff Johnson for a jumper near the rim for the first bucket of the game.

Wahab made his preference felt on the other end with a huge block, and Kanye Clary drove into the paint and floated his first attempt into the basket. After a bad inbound pass from Northwestern, Penn State kept the scoring going with Wahab reaching the basket on a defended jumper.

Northwestern finally got points on the board when Penn State was called for goaltending on a Boo Buie layup. The Wildcats kept the scoring going with a long three from Ty Berry before Wahab answered back with a layup.

Ace Baldwin Jr. picked up a big steal from Berry and took it all the way for a driving layup. Buie answered back quickly with a long three-pointer as the two teams went into the first media timeout.

After the break, D’Marco Dunn picked up right where he left off from The Palestra, drilling a corner three to make it 13-8 in favor of Penn State. With a size advantage against Leo O’Boyle, Brooks Barnhizer took advantage with a turnaround jumper to get it back to a one-score game.

Zach Hicks and Nick Martinelli traded layups on their respective ends, and after a missed Baldwin three, Martinelli drilled a tough hook shot to get it back to a one-point game. Nick Kern Jr. had enough of that and slammed a bucket away after an assist from Baldwin.

Wahab was fouled and made one of two free throws, however, Buie’s hot start to the game continued with another long three-pointer to cut Penn State’s lead back down to a one-point game.

Baldwin found Kern with an unbelievable pass through multiple defenders for a layup. Luke Hunger and Wahab traded layups and on the next offensive possession for the Wildcats and a Berry three tied the game at 22.

With six minutes to go in the half, Clary picked up a huge and-one layup and free throw to regain the lead for the Nittany Lions.

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— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 11, 2024

Matthew Nicholson was fouled by Johnson and made one of two shots, however, Baldwin answered back with a clean euro-step layup.

After a bandpass from Nicholson, Buie fouled Clary shooting a three, and the guard drilled all three free throws to make it a seven-point game. Barnhizer answered back with a jumper, however, Northwestern head coach Chris Collins was called for a technical foul for arguing with the referees over the Buie foul call on Clary.

Baldwin drilled both of the free throws, and on the ensuing possession for the Nittany Lions, Clary was fouled again and drilled two more free throws to increase the lead to nine.

Berry drilled his third straight three of the first half. Clary answered back on the other end with a reverse layup, however, Kern was called for a foul, and Barnhizer drilled both free throws.

After both teams traded missed threes, Kern made up for his foul with an acrobatic make as the shot clock wound down.

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— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 11, 2024

With a minute remaining in the half, Ryan Langborg entered the scorebook with a jumper for his first make of the game. With the final seconds ticking down, Clary drove to the paint and made a big left-handed layup. Northwestern missed its final shot of the half as the Nittany Lions went into the break leading 40-32.

At the start of the second half, Hicks missed another three-pointer, the 10th miss overall for the Nittany Lions. Barnhizer scored first for the Wildcats with a nice layup.

On the other end, Johnson picked up an and-one layup but missed the free throw, however, Hunger found a wide-open Berry for another three.

Wahab picked up two free throws after being fouled in the paint, but Nicholson answered back with a loud alley-oop dunk. Wahab and Kern were fouled on back-to-back possessions and drilled all four free throws.

Buie finally got a shot to fall down for the Wildcats, but on the other end, Dunn answered with another three-pointer to make it a 10-point Penn State lead. Barnhizer knocked down two free throws, but after Wahab grabbed a rebound off a miss, Clary found his way into the lane for another tough layup.

Blake Preston made a pair of free throws, and after a couple of misses by both teams, Buie found Berry for a wide-open layup to get the deficit down to six.

Northwestern picked up its seventh foul with just under 13.5 minutes left, and on the one-and-one, Clary knocked down both shots.

After a no-call from the refs, Mike Rhoades picked up a technical foul and Buie made both of the free throws. Northwestern’s run continued after Barnhizer picked up an and-one layup and free throw, and on the following possession, Buie found Nicholson for a dunk that made it 55-54 Nittany Lions.

With under 12 minutes to play, Martinelli drilled a hook shot to take the Wildcats first lead of the game. Buie followed that bucket with back-to-back makes.

Barnhizer hit a turnaround jumper to extend the lead to seven before Clary finally ended the Wildcat’s 13-0 run with a layup. Johnson drilled a jumper to get it back down to a three-point game, and after a Buie foul on Clary, Penn State returned the score to a one-point game.

Berry knocked down a pair of free throws, and after multiple turnovers and no points from either team, Langborg picked up a layup to make it a five-point lead.

Wahab converted a huge shot for the Nittany Lions to return to a one-score game. With just over three minutes to play, Barnhizer drilled a long three for the Wildcats, however, after a miss, Kern came up with the ball and put up a layup to make it 69-65 in favor of Northwestern.

Baldwin fouled Buie and made one of two shots, but on the offensive end, Hicks missed another three, and Barnhizer made a layup to go back up by seven.

The Nittany Lions didn’t fold as Clary drilled a long three-pointer to cut the deficit to four. Martinelli picked up an offensive foul and gave the ball back to Penn State, and Kern made a big layup to make it a two-point game.

With the final minute ticking down, Baldwin picked up a steal and with a chance to tie the game. Kern turned over the ball, and Barnhizer tallied a layup. Kern went down the floor and answered quickly with a spinning layup to make it a two-point game with under 30 seconds to play.

Penn State went for the steal but fouled Langborg, who made the first but missed the second. Up three, Penn State drove down the floor and Kern was fouled. He missed the first shot and intentionally missed the second one and was called for questionable lane violation.

The Nittany Lions were forced to foul, and Barnhizer hit one of two free throws, but with nearly no time left, the Wildcats hung on to win 76-72.

Takeaways

• Penn State struggled immensely from beyond the arc, so much that it cost them the game. The Nittany Lions went an abysmal 3-17 from three. Zach Hicks shot 0-6 from three in what was by far his worst performance of the year.
• Kanye Clary continued to shine. The guard totaled his fifth 20-point game in the last six contests, totaling 25 points in the loss. Clary scored from all over the floor and went back and forth with arguably the best guard in the Big Ten in Boo Buie.
• Ace Baldwin Jr. tied a school record for most steals in a single game with eight. While that was great, the six-point performance wasn’t a good one for the guard as his offensive game took a back seat in favor of his defense.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will travel to West Lafayette for a matchup with reigning Wooden Award winner Zach Edey and the No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers. The game is set to tip off at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, January 13, and can be watched on the Big Ten Network.