Northwestern comes out flat, falls to Penn St.

Based on the 24-point shellacking Penn State put on Northwestern 11 days earlier, the Nittany Lions assumed they'd get the Wildcats' best shot Thursday night.

“I thought Northwestern would come out and have a lot of juice, a lot of energy,” said Penn State coach Ed DeChellis. “I felt we had to match that.”

For the record, that's the only way in the last four years Penn State failed to solve Northwestern.

The Nittany Lions improved their NCAA Tournament hopes with a 66-52 Big Ten victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Penn State sprinted to an 18-2 lead, then ran away again after the Wildcats got as close as 1 point early in the second half.

Penn State senior Talor Battle became the first Big Ten player to hit 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists for a career ... and improved his record against the Wildcats to 6-0.

Meanwhile, NU senior point guard Juice Thompson — a Penn State recruiting target until Battle committed — sat in the front row after the game and stared into space as the Wildcats (16-11, 6-10) ensured their 42nd losing Big Ten record in the last 43 seasons.

Thompson led everyone with 22 points, but Penn State shot 57 percent from the field and ruled the boards as well.

“Today, just like when we were down at their place, we didn't come out ready to play,” Thompson said. “We got off to a bad start. As a senior leader, I've got to figure out something different and do a lot more to make sure my team comes out ready to play.”

Penn State's blistering start forced Northwestern coach Bill Carmody to switch to the 1-3-1 zone trap and rely on it far longer than he hoped.

While the aggressive zone helped the Wildcats get close, it also took a physical toll that showed in their shooting.

Once the Wildcats recovered from their 18-2 deficit to get within 22-19 with six minutes left in first half, they had 11 possessions over the next 12 minutes when they were within 3 points.

NU went 1-for-12 from the field on those possessions, including 0-for-5 from the 3-point arc.

After the last of those misses — Drew Crawford's wide-open 3-point try from the corner — Penn State decided enough was enough.

Jeff Brooks (20 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 14-5 run that all but pushed the visitors out of reach.

Now Penn State (15-12, 8-8) owns fifth place in the Big Ten — shoving Illinois into sixth — and put a second Big Ten road win on its NCAA resume.

“Like I told the kids, ‘We're still on life support,'” DeChellis said. “Every game is an NCAA game and every game is an opportunity to build your resume.”