Penn St. @ Northwestern preview

Penn St. at Northwestern

Last Meeting ( Mar 1, 2018 ) Northwestern 57, Penn St. 65

Northwestern looks to halt a two-game losing skid when it hosts Penn State in Big Ten play on Monday. The Wildcats dropped a 62-46 decision to No. 23 Wisconsin before suffering a 70-52 setback to No. 24 Maryland on Jan. 29 to fall to 0-5 against ranked teams this season, and they hope to kick off the second half of the conference campaign on a winning note by avenging a 65-57 loss to the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten Tournament last year.

"We've been in a little bit of a rut the last couple of games and we can't get the ball to go in the basket," Northwestern coach Chris Collins told reporters. "We've got to get our confidence back and hopefully it will be a different story on Monday." Penn State is still winless in Big Ten play after coming up short in its upset bid of No. 18 Purdue on Thursday. The Nittany Lions rallied from a 17-point deficit to force overtime against the red-hot Boilermakers, but ended up on the wrong side of a 99-90 scoreline, and they hope to get over the disappointment by earning their first win since Dec. 29. "I know our record isn't what we expect or where we want it to be but the kids are competing and playing hard," Penn State coach Patrick Chambers told reporters. "The ultimate goal down the stretch here in February is that they continue to progress."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT PENN STATE (7-14, 0-10 Big Ten): Lamar Stevens went 14-of-17 from the free throw line en route to a team-high 24 points and pulled down six rebounds in the loss to Purdue. Rasir Bolton added 18 points and four assists to finish in double figures for the second time in as many games after being held scoreless in the loss to Rutgers on Jan. 26, while fellow freshman Myles Dread knocked down four 3-pointers to finish with 14 points against the Boilermakers. Josh Reaves scored 11 points and corralled six rebounds while Mike Watkins contributed 10 points and 11 boards to notch his fifth double-double of the season.

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (12-9, 3-7): Anthony Gaines scored 11 of his career-high 18 points in the second half and pulled down seven rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Wildcats shot 31 percent from the floor in the loss to Maryland. Dererk Pardon added 14 points and seven rebounds against the Terrapins to finish in double figures for the 19th time in 21 games this season while Ryan Taylor tallied seven points. Vic Law, who leads the team in points per game (15.3) was limited to five, but moved past Craig Moore for 18th place on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,295 career points.

TIP-INS

1. Northwestern has held 12 opponents under their season scoring average.

2. Penn State has lost eight consecutive road games.

3. Stevens has scored 20 or more points 26 times in his career.

PREDICTION: Penn State 71, Northwestern 70