Seth Lundy scored 23 points, and his sidestep, fadeaway 3-pointer from the right side with 35 seconds left gave Penn State the lead for good as the Nittany Lions beat Northwestern 74-70 on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
With Penn State leading 68-65, Lundy broke free behind Northwestern’s press for a breakaway and-one layup and a six-point lead. Boo Buie followed with a bucket to reduce the Wildcats’ deficit to 71-67.
Sam Sessoms made two free throws for the Nittany Lions before Pete Nance countered with a 3 with four seconds remaining to make it 73-70.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, Chase Audige stole Myles Dread’s entry and dribbled out to the right baseline, but his 3-point attempt to tie bounced off the rim with 1.1 seconds left.
Elyjah Williams’ layup with 9:37 left gave the Wildcats a 55-45 lead before a 12-2 Penn State run knotted it at 57 four minutes later, and it remained close the rest of the way.
Northwestern led 34-29 at halftime.
Lundy finished 8-for-13, including 5 of 9 from past the arc. Jalen Pickett scored 18 points for the Nittany Lions (7-5, 2-2 Big Ten).
Buie had 22 points and eight assists, Nance scored 15 points and Robbie Beran scored 11 for Northwestern (8-4, 1-2).
Penn State hosts No. 3 Purdue on Saturday, while Northwestern travels to No. 13 Ohio State.
