Wildcats drop to 1-13 in Big Ten

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State coach Patrick Chambers has watched his teams cough up enough leads late to know this squad is different.

The No. 13 Nittany Lions are hanging on and closing games out.

Lamar Stevens scored 23 points to lead Penn State over Northwestern 77-61 on Saturday.

Myles Dread scored 16 and Jamari Wheeler and Mike Watkins added 11 apiece for the Nittany Lions, who led for all but 6 minutes, 29 seconds to win their eighth straight. They arrived at 20 wins sooner than any other season in program history.

“We’ve been talking about moments since the beginning of the season and this is another moment for us,” Chambers said. “You can celebrate after the season. Right now, we’re trying to do something special. Something Penn State’s never done before.”

Boo Buie and Pete Nance had 12 points, Pat Spencer scored 11 and Miller Kopp had 10 for the Wildcats (6-18, 1-13 Big Ten), who lost their ninth in a row.

The Nittany Lions (20-5, 10-4) led 42-28 at halftime and by as many as 18 midway through the second half before the Wildcats clawed back.

Aided by a 17-6 run midway through the second half, Northwestern cut Penn State’s lead to seven with 5:16 left. But Dread drained a 3-pointer to help put the game out of reach and the Nittany Lions finished on a 10-4 run.

“Give credit to their guys who were able to hit some good shots when we put some pressure on them,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. “We had some opportunities in the paint that we couldn’t finish.”

The Wildcats had a good start. Kopp got the them started with a 3-pointer that quickly turned into an 11-9 lead for Northwestern. It didn’t last long.

Penn State extended its lead with back-to-back 3-pointers from Dread and Wheeler that sparked a 22-6 run, including a 10-0 stretch, that put Penn State up 35-19.