A Double Dose of Nittany Lion Basketball
By Joshua Yoder
Men’s Basketball
Northwestern Wildcats 76, Penn State Nittany Lions 72
STATE COLLEGE – Despite a strong first half, Penn State struggled during the second half which allowed the Wildcats to come back and take the victory.
In the first half, the Nittany Lions took a 40-32 lead before Northwestern took over in the final half of the game where they had outscored Penn State 44-32 to complete the comeback.
A lot of the issues for the Nittany Lions were their struggles to hit shots from beyond the arc. Penn State only hit three of seventeen attempts shooting 18 percent from three point range. Overall they shot 46 percent from the field.
Where on the flip side, Northwestern looked like they couldn’t miss from three as the Wildcats hit 58 percent of their shots from three dropping seven of twelve while hitting 61 percent of their shots from the field.
Guard Kanye Clary led the way for Penn State, scoring a game high of 25 points. Forward Qudus Wahab collected a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Nick Kern added another 14 points.
The Nittany Lions look to regroup after falling back to .500 with an (8-8) overall record. But it will be no easy task as Penn State will hit the road to due battle with the number one ranked team in the nation in the form of the Purdue Boilermakers this Saturday afternoon at 2:15 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
Indiana Hoosiers 75, Penn State Nittany Lions 67
BLOOMINGTON, ID – Similar to the Men’s game, the Lady Lions also struggled in the second half which led to them being defeated by the 14 th ranked Indiana Lady Hoosiers.
Much like the men, Penn State had the lead going into the break with the Lady Lions having outscored Indiana 39-34. And also like in the Men’s game, Penn State struggled in the second half with the lady Hoosiers outscoring them 41-28.
One of the key factors was the turnovers from the Lady Lions as they committed a total of 21 turnovers while only compiling nine assists.
Penn State also had a tough time connecting with their free throws hitting 12 of 23 for a percentage of 52.
The Lady Lions had four players who scored in double digits with Leilani Kapinus leading the way with a team high of 15 points and had six rebounds. Center Ali Brigham had 14 points and seven assists, Taylor Valladay had 13 points and Shay Ciezki added another 12 points for the evening.
The Lady Lions fall to (10-5) and will be on the road again as they will face the Scarlett Knights of Rutgers Sunday at 2 p.m.