Blue White Illustrated

A t last, Penn State finally notched its win. In their 11th try of the 2018-19 Big Ten campaign, the Nittany Lions traveled to Northwestern and put away a conference opponent, de- feating the Wildcats, 59-52. Led by junior forward Lamar Stevens, who finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists, the Lions finally showed what they had collectively believed all along: that their 0-10 conference record going into the visit to Evanston on Feb. 4 was not indicative of the capabilities of the team. "We have a great group of guys. They came to work every day, and I think we knew our potential," Stevens said. "We beat a really good Virginia Tech team and we went to Morgantown and had a really good game against West Virginia [during the exhibition season]. I felt like we al- ways competed, but there were just small things that we needed to clean up to fi- nally get over the hump and get a win. I think our potential and just knowing what we were capable of just kept every- body going, because we knew we were better than our record." Through 10 tries against conference op- ponents, near-misses were plentiful. In their Big Ten opener at Maryland in December, a deep Anthony Cowan 3- pointer put the Terrapins over the top in the final minute. Back at the Bryce Jordan Center three days later, the Nittany Lions hurt themselves, knocking down only 11 of 26 free throw attempts in a 64-62 loss to Indiana. And those losses were just harbingers. When the Big Ten season resumed in January, the Lions suffered double-digit losses to Michigan and Wisconsin. Dur- ing the first of those defeats, a 68-55 loss to the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, head coach Patrick Chambers shoved fresh- man guard Myles Dread during a sideline huddle, and as a result he was suspended for the home game against the Badgers three days later. Those early-January defeats got the new year off to a discouraging start, and in the games that followed against Ne- braska, Iowa, Minnesota, Rutgers and Purdue, the Nittany Lions fell back into their earlier pattern, playing fiercely competitive basketball only to see some- thing derail their hopes for victory. Ne- braska's Glynn Watson Jr. and Iowa's Jordan Bohannon hit key 3-pointers, and at Minnesota, a questionable foul sent Dupree McBrayer to the free throw line at a critical moment. Against Rutgers, missed free throws proved costly yet again, and against Purdue, an egregious missed call at the end of regulation helped the Boilermakers leave the BJC with a 99- 90 overtime victory. Nonetheless, the coulda, woulda, shoulda nature of the Nittany Lions' sea- son left the group in the same place. Best intentions, senseless mistakes, uncanny plays made by opponents, and officiating malpractice all were part of the equation, and those factors combined to keep Penn State winless in the Big Ten until its trip to Evanston. "You learn quickly that everything in a Big Ten game matters. Every possession matters, offense and defense," Stevens said. "So we take a lot of extra pride on the defensive end and getting stops and rebounds, and just letting that lead to our offense. I felt [at Northwestern] there were times we had to get big stops, and we came up with those." In their next game, a visit to Ohio State on Feb. 7, the Nittany Lions could argue that they did it again. The first half was a see-saw battle. Penn State built an early lead, then saw it quickly disappear during a 21-1 Buckeyes run. Regrouping late in the half, the Lions reeled off nine unan- swered points of their own and headed to the locker room trailing only by three, 34- 31. The second half was a similarly back- and-forth battle, as the Buckeyes boosted their lead to nine points, only to see Penn State storm back and twice retake the lead. The final minutes, though, were an- other case of déjà vu for the Lions. An Ohio State circus shot, a questionable flagrant foul on the same play, then an obscure shot clock rule minutes later left Penn State looking up. Even then, true freshman guard Rasir Bolton was able to drive to the hoop unchallenged, only to see the ball skim off the rim and M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L LOST IN TRANSLATION The Lions have had diculty turning their improvements into victories this season | LAMAR STEVENS Ryan Snyder

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