EVANSTON-Coming back to Welsh-Ryan Arena on a two-game skid and facing a Penn State team that was winless in conference, Northwestern simply had to win this game.

Instead, they turned in another awful offensive performance that gave the team no chance at victory, and the Nittany Lions came away with their first Big Ten win, 59-52, over the Wildcats.

For the first time since conference play opened, Northwestern was able to get out to a fast start. Anthony Gaines and Ryan Taylor opened with the team’s first 10 points of the game to forge a 10-2 lead, forcing Pat Chambers to take an early timeout. Penn State responded well, however, quickly erasing Northwestern’s lead and establishing its own lead in a span of 10 minutes.

After two more lead changes in the next two minutes, it became more and more evident that this was going to be another slugfest. Dererk Pardon wasn’t able to get anything going inside in the first half with Penn State big man Mike Watkins clogging the paint.

The Cats' saving grace in the first half was their 3-point shooting. While they only shot 36 percent from the field, they were able to shoot 44 percent (4 for 9) from beyond the arc, keeping them within two at the half.

The opening minutes of the second half brought much of the same story, as neither team was able to find a significant edge. As the half went on, though, the Nittany Lions were able to extend their lead to eight points with under 10 minutes remaining.

Just as the possibility of Penn State running away with the game lingered, two timely 3s from Vic Law and Miller Kopp brought Northwestern back to within two and got the crowd on its feet. That would be the closest the Wildcats would get to retaking the lead, however, as Penn State pulled away late to saddle Northwestern with its third straight loss.

Pardon led Northwestern with 18 points, 13 of them coming in the second half. The only other player who scored double-digits was Law, who needed 17 shots to tally 10 points.

Lamar Stevens led Penn State with 18 points, while Rasir Bolton had 14 points despite hitting just 3 of 14 attempts.

Here are our three pointers from a dismal night in Evanston that dropped Northwestern to 12-10 overall and 3-8 in the Big Ten:

Another tough night for Law and Northwestern’s half-court offense: The fifth-year senior struggled once again with his shooting, going 3-for-17 from the field and 2-for-8 from deep. He was able to contribute in other ways with six assists and 10 rebounds, but he xalso committed six turnovers, including two down the stretch when the Wildcats were trying to mount a rally.

Overall, it was another disappointing night for Law, who had an awful January and hasn't been able to find his rhythm since December.

As a team, Northwestern has had difficulty generating open looks all year, but it was even more apparent tonight, when the Wildcats couldn't generate many quality shots. Even when the Wildcats were able to get the ball into Pardon, Penn State was able to key on him and force other Northwestern players to take more shots.

Head coach Chris Collins said that he still has confidence that Law will be able to turn things around.

“We need Vic to be aggressive,” Collins said. “We want Vic to shoot and we want Dererk to shoot, but we need the other guys to be threats as well.”

Gaines’ foul trouble hurt the Cats: Northwestern has struggled with foul trouble all year, and it hit the team hard tonight with Gaines, Northwestern’s best defender, only playing seven minutes of the second half before fouling out.

Gaines, NU's best defender, picked up his fourth foul with 16:57 remaining in the second half and fouled out of the game with 2:30 left after sitting on the bench for the majority of the half.

In the first half, Gaines was matched up with Stevens, Penn State’s leading scorer. He limited Stevens to seven points in the first half. While Stevens was less efficient from the field in the second half, he got to the line 10 times (Penn State was in the bonus with more than 13 minutes left), and wound up with 10 points after the half.

“He made his free throws,” Penn State head coach Pat Chambers said, “and that can help you win games.”

Northwestern also missed Gaines on the offensive end. He was 3-for-6 in the first half and was one of the few players that was able to get to the hoop with any regularity. In a second half that lacked any inspiration, the Wildcats could’ve used his attacking mentality.

This loss is tough to swallow: You can’t sugarcoat this loss for Northwestern. At home and playing against a previously winless team in the conference, it was simply a game the Wildcats has to get. That they didn’t and instead were saddled with their third straight loss was a punch in the gut.

It wasn't necessarily a surprising setback, however. Northwestern was only a 3.5-point favorite against a Penn State that had experienced several narrow losses on the season, and the two teams had split their last 10 meetings overall.

But however you want to analyze it, this is a new low point of the season for Northwestern. The Wildcats have suffered some pretty ugly losses this year, but most of them have been in the form of blowouts to the likes of Michigan State and Michigan. This, though, was the most galling one.

“All these losses are tough,” Collins said. “We had an opportunity to come home and right the ship. It is very disappointing.”