National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Northwestern 67, Penn St. 66
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 25, 2012
Where: Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pennsylvania
Officials: # Wally Rutecki, # Gene Steratore, # Ryan Tyburksi
Attendance: 8513

NORTHWESTERN 67, PENN STATE 66:
John Shurna scored 23 points, including a pair of free throws with 2.6 seconds remaining, as the Wildcats pulled out a rare conference road victory.

Shurna, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, enjoyed a fine all-around game with six rebounds and five blocks for Northwestern (17-11, 7-9 Big Ten), which improved to 2-6 in league play away from home and ended a 10-year drought at Penn State.

After Shurna hit a jumper to give the Wildcats a 65-63 advantage with 3:13 remaining, Tim Frazier - the Big Ten's second-leading scorer - missed a jumper on the other end but grabbed the offensive rebound, converted the layup and drew a foul.

Once Frazier hit the free throw to cap off his three-point play with 2:48 left in the contest, the game remained scoreless until Shurna drew a foul in the final seconds.

Shurna drained both free throws to give Northwestern a 67-66 lead and the win after Frazier’s heave from near half court came up short at the buzzer.

Frazier finished with 23 points – his conference-leading 15th 20-point game of the season – for Penn State (12-17, 4-12), which remains in a tie with Nebraska at the bottom of the conference.

GAME NOTEBOOK: For the second time in three games, Shurna matched his career high in blocked shots. … Northwestern went 15 of 29 from the 3-point line, marking the ninth time this season it made at least 10 3-pointers and the third time that more than half of its points came beyond the arc. … Penn State enjoyed a 40-10 advantage in the paint, but was outscored 45-9 from the 3-point line.
Top Game Performances
 
Northwestern   Penn St.
John Shurna 23 Scoring Tim Frazier 23
John Shurna 6 Assists Tim Frazier 8
Drew Crawford 9 Rebounds Ross Travis 9
John Shurna 6 Free Throws Made Tim Frazier 4
JerShon Cobb 3 Steals Sasa Borovnjak 1
John Shurna 5 Blocks N/A
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Northwestern 67 44.0 15-29 8-12 15 18 6 8 9
Penn St. 66 50.9 3-14 5-9 15 36 0 5 12