Takeaways: Penn State 67, Northwestern 65 (OT)

For the second time in two weeks, Penn State upset Northwestern in overtime. And this time, it came in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

The 10th-seeded Nittany Lions just seem to have Northwestern's number, and they bounced the second-seeded Wildcats from the tourney with a 67-65 defeat at the United Center.

Northwestern struggled mightily to score, and finished the game with the ignominious stat of taking more shots (66) than they scored points (65).

Boo Buie led Northwestern with 16 points but struggled to find a rhythm, finishing 6-for-17 from the floor. Seth Lundy, who led Penn State, scored 16 points as well, including a dagger three over the outstretched hand of Brooks Barnhizer to deliver Penn State the lead before the foul battle ensued.

"We've got to be better going into the NCAA Tournament," head coach Chris Collins said. "Thirty-one percent is not going to cut it. Our four main scorers -- Boo, Chase [Audige], Ty [Berry], and Brooks [Barnhizer] -- shooting about 25 percent from the floor. You're not going to beat NCAA-quality teams if we can't get our guys going, and that's on me."

It was an eerily similar game to Northwestern's overtime loss to Penn State at Welsh-Ryan Arena on March 1. The Wildcats took a lot more shots than the Nittany Lions and forced plenty of turnovers but just couldn't buy a bucket.

It was a frustrating bout of deja vu for Wildcat fans who watched this team fight so hard and achieve so much to earn the double-bye in the conference tourney, only to get bounced in their first time out.

But this team is turning its focus on to the bigger tournament now. Northwestern will find out where it's headed for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's Big Ten Tournament loss to Penn State:

Northwestern couldn't buy a basket: The Wildcat couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, couldn't throw a rock in the ocean, couldn't hit water if they fell off a pier. Take your pick of metaphors and analogies. The bottom line was that this team could not hit a shot.

The Wildcats turned Penn State over 15 times, they shot nearly 20% better at the free-throw line, they outscored them 23-2 in points off turnovers. But they came up short because they shot a nightmarish 21-for-66 from the field (31.8%).

Normally Northwestern has one or two bright spots on offense, from Buie, Barnhizer, Audige, Berry or someone else, but the box score is grim top to bottom.

Barnhizer was on Buie's heels with 15 points, but still had a tough shooting night with a line of 4-for-13 from the floor. Berry's and Audige's struggles continued, shooting 1-for-10 and 3-for-14, respectively.

At the end of the day, Northwestern needs to flush this game and move on. This team is now on to bigger and better things in the Big Dance.

Berry and Audige's jumpers were both rocky, but they hit big buckets down the stretch. Berry finally got a three to go with 2:32 left in regulation that gave Northwestern a two-point lead, and Audige had a huge bucket in overtime and almost hit a buzzer-beater for the win.

Seeing these struggles is definitely frustrating, but Collins and the Wildcats have to live and die with their guys. To scrap Audige's shots and tell him not to shoot, or to tell Berry only to distribute the ball and pass up open shots would severely limit Northwestern's offensive diversity and damage the confidence of two of its shot creators.

But there's no mistake what the foundation of this team is: it's Buie, and then it's Audige. Buie unlocks the offense, Audige unlocks the defense. Buie is First Team All-Big Ten for a reason, but this team has to keep Audige, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, in a key role to be competitive.

Northwestern can't ditch the guys that brought them here. If Northwestern is going to win in March Madness, they need to bet on their guys and count on them to deliver.

Barnhizer continues to assert himself: Barnhizer has taken huge strides, and he has stepped up as Northwestern's second scorer for several games now.

Buie and Audige are the aforementioned foundation, but Barnhizer has done a great job of shouldering some of that load and helping carry this team. He put up his second straight double-double and finished with 11 rebounds to go with his 15 points.

With Buie and Audige briefly both on the bench with foul trouble in the heart of the second half, the lead quickly grew to seven. Barnhizer went on a one-man 5-0 run over the next couple possessions, draining a three-pointer and then slashing to the basket for a reverse layup, and Northwestern was able to give their star backcourt a breather.

"I saw our two leading scorers on the bench, and I knew we needed some offense from somewhere," Barnhizer said. "It was just being aggressive with two of our leading scorers out...I think it cut the lead from seven to two, kind of got back in the game. So it was a big stretch. It wasn't enough, but it was a good run for us."

Collins showed appreciation for who Barnhizer has been, and who he could be.

"He never got into the rotation [last year]," Collins said. "I give him a lot of credit. He worked his tail off and stayed with us in a day and age where a lot of people would probably walk out the door.

"He knew he was in the right spot and he could be a good player. I think he's showing now that he's going to be a stalwart for who we are going forward. He can score. He can rebound. He's very unique. He can handle the ball in pick-and-roll.

"Just excited to see what he can become. Hopefully not wait too much into the future. We can get a great performance out of him in the tournament."

Both teams felt the pressure and the spotlight: It was very apparent early on that both teams felt the magnitude of the stage they were on. A chance at the conference title, and a chance at building a March Madness resume for Penn State, was on the line.

The atmosphere was tense and both teams looked like they had butterflies early.

The teams came out and shot a combined 31.5% from the floor in the first half. First-team All-Big Ten players Buie and Jalen Pickett felt it, too. Buie airballed three three-pointers in the first half, while Pickett scored just three points.

It was a gritty, ugly game for both teams.

"I didn't think it was a beautiful game to watch, but I thought it was an incredibly hard-played game by both teams," said Collins. "Neither team really could get anything going offensively. Certainly we couldn't."

On to the Big Dance: After an exceptional regular season, it feels deflating to have this team come up short in the Big Ten Tournament. But Collins is confident that his team's lackluster play tonight won't damage their confidence going forward.

Welsh-Ryan Arena will be packed for a Selection Sunday Watch Party this Sunday as the Wildcats find out their seeding for their second NCAA Tournament berth in school history.

"What I want them to do now is, when they find out [who we play] on Sunday, we need to go, and we need to be loose," Collins said. "We need to play with reckless abandon. We need to be locked in. We need to play our defense. We need to shoot our shots. There's no reason for us to be tight, to be on our heels in any way.

"I want these guys to go out and play the way they've played a majority of the season with 21 wins. I'm looking forward to that."