Cam Wynter buries 3 in OT to lift Nittany Lions, 68-65, at Northwestern

Penn State needed heroics in a crucial, March-defining test at Northwestern on Wednesday night. Cam Wynter, the Nittany Lions’ transfer guard, provided them.

Tied 65-65 with 14 seconds to play in overtime, Jalen Pickett’s step-back jumper rimmed out. Evan Mahaffey seized the offensive rebound and kicked to Andrew Funk on the wing. And, with two Wildcats converging, Funk quickly dished to Wynter in the corner.

Already leading all scorers with 21 points, Wynter set himself and fired with 1.7 seconds remaining, rattling home the 3-pointer. In the process, he lifted Penn State to a 68-65 win over the Wildcats, improving to 18-12 overall, 9-10 in the Big Ten.

“Evan crashes the boards hard. He got up there, went up and got that rebound, got it kicked kicked the Funk,” Wynter told Penn State’s radio broadcast team. “Obviously everyone’s gonna fly out of Funk, he’s a great shooter, and he just one-mored it to me. I had a lot of time to kind of line it up and just let it go.”

Cam Wynter game-winning shot

Penn State's Camren Wynter for the OT win!

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Lessons learned

The shot was the product of Wynter’s shot, but also two key plays to lead to the attempt. With Mahaffey tracking down the rebound, the true freshman gathered his fifth board of the night in a 20-minute outing. And, settling himself to find Funk beyond the arc, the Nittany Lions had the ball in the hands of one of their best shooters.

But, in a trend Micah Shrewsberry was determined to improve upon coming out of a Sunday loss to Rutgers, Funk made the extra pass to find Wynter for a wide-open look in the corner.

“We haven’t been moving the ball as much. We haven’t moved the ball as well. Our assist numbers have been down,” Shrewsberry said. “And now you look, to have 19 against a team like this that rotates, rotates. It’s that kick out from Pickett to start it, to an extra pass from one guy to the next. They were driving, they were finding each other, and 19 assists is big time for us. I know we had nine turnovers at half. And only having four in the second half against this kind of defense is good.”

Adversity overcome

To get the win, Penn State needed to overcome two demons. The first was shedding a brutal, 59-56 loss to Rutgers on Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center in a high-stakes matchup. The second was the carryover, representing itself in a sluggish, turnover-prone 17-7 deficit to start the game at Northwestern.

To get through the first, Shrewsberry said his Penn State program had help.

“There are some Penn State people that really reached out. They knew we were hurting. They knew we were hurting. And from Ed DeChellis to Joe Crispin, a bunch of former players that reached out. A bunch of the Penn State head coaches, Coach Franklin, Coach Kiegs, Jeff Cook, Katie Cawley, they were with us. And they knew we were hurting,” he said. “But we had to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. And the one thing I told those guys today before we finished is, That was us that built that lead against Rutgers, too. It was us that blew it at the end, and I didn’t help them, and I told him that. I’ll be better for you, and you guys keep fighting the way you are. But that was us that built that lead. We’re a good basketball team. And three straight wins on the road for us is big time and I’m so proud of these guys, I’m so proud of their effort.”

Sluggish start

Whether it was the ghost of Rutgers or the reality of Northwestern’s aggressive, efficient defensive attack, Penn State was saddled by an uncharacteristic nine turnovers in the first half. Uncomfortable and unable to find open looks, or field goal attempts due to turnovers, the Nittany Lions found themselves facing a 8-0 deficit in points off turnovers at the half.

But, along the way, they also found life when they limited their turnovers and started making shots in the final five minutes of the first half.

“It took us a minute. We had to adjust. They’re so good defensively with what they do with those hedges and their rotations,” Shrewsberry said. “They got us early. We turned the ball over way too much early. But once we settled down, we got where we wanted to. What we were doing, how we played, we’re not a 3-for-13 shooting team. I knew that would turn around for us if we kept getting the right shots. So we got them and we knocked them in when it mattered.”

Penn State improves NCAA Tournament chances

With the win, Penn State notched its fourth Quad 1 win of the season, improving to 8-12 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games. Importantly, the Nittany Lions are also an unbeaten 10-0 in games against Quad 3 and Quad 4 teams.

According to Wynter, the opportunity to get back to the NCAA Tournament is a motivating factor he believes is very much still possible for this group.

“It just makes you hungry. It’s the only reason I came here,” he said. “I wanted to go to a tournament. I thought we had a great chance before I got here and being here, I think we have a better chance. We’re a great team and we deserve to be in tournament.”

Penn State will get the opportunity to improve on its chances when it hosts Maryland for senior day on Sunday at the BJC.