2018 Big Ten Basketball Tournament: Nittany Lions square off with Northwestern Thursday night

Penn State draws Northwestern in the second round of the 2018 Big Ten Basketball Tournament

With three straight losses, Penn State has backed into the 2018 Big Ten Tournament. However, the Nittany Lions still earned a bye in round one, meaning that they won’t take the court until Thursday night. Seeded No. 7 in the tournament, Penn State will square off with No. 10 Northwestern.

After beating No. 8 Ohio State for the second time on February 15, Penn State appeared to be on the road toward a berth in the NCAA Tournament. However, losses to Purdue, Michigan and Nebraska to end the regular season all but ended those chances.

Penn State suddenly lost all of the momentum it had gained throughout the early part of February.

Now, a deep run into the Big Ten Tournament is the only hope the Nittany Lions have at heading to the Big Dance. If Penn State is unable to land in the NCAA Tournament, then a trip to the NIT appears to be in the cards. Though not the tournament the program would hope for, any postseason basketball is great experience for a team.

As for Thursday’s game, Penn State and Northwestern will be meeting for the third time this season.

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The Nittany Lions defeated the Wildcats 78-63 in the Bryce Jordan Center back on January 5. Forward Lamar Stevens had a monster game, pouring in a season-high 30 points. Mike Watkins, whose status is still unknown for Thursday’s game, had a double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds.

As a team, Penn State shot 55 percent from the field.

Northwestern struggled mightily in the first meeting with the Nittany Lions, shooting just 37 percent from the field. The Wildcats were out-rebounded 40-27. One of the lone bright spots was senior guard Bryant McIntosh, who scored 18 points.

The second meeting between the two schools occurred on January 20 in Evanston and resulted in a 70-61 Northwestern victory.

Penn State still shot better than the Wildcats from the field, but the rebound story was flipped the second time around, as Northwestern pulled down seven more boards than Penn State. The Nittany Lions got just eight points each from star guard Tony Carr and Watkins.

Northwestern used an 18-point performance from Vic Law to pull out the victory at home.

With the Big Ten Tournament moved to the Big Apple — Madison Square Garden to be exact — for this season, expect a good Penn State crowd on hand. The battle between the Nittany Lions and Wildcats will tip at  6:30 p.m. ET. The winner will take on second-seeded Ohio State on Friday evening.