How to watch Penn State basketball at Northwestern

Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades has, at times during his debut season with the Nittany Lions, lamented mental toughness. Or, more specifically, the lack of that trait amidst a handful of particularly demoralizing losses.

Frequently resilient in the face of outsized odds, his Penn State team hadn’t managed to sustain outstanding efforts, ultimately falling when counterpunched. The result was a rollercoaster reflected game by game in the wins and losses column on the schedule.

Thursday evening against Iowa, Penn State reversed that narrative. Welcoming the Hawkeyes to the Bryce Jordan Center, the Nittany Lions demonstrated the mettle that has been lacking at times and, in the process, provided Rhoades with a glimmer of optimism at his team’s ability to continue it heading into the home stretch of the regular season.

“As a coach, you want to pride your team on always getting better as the year goes on and being tough out,” said Rhoades. “Let’s work hard every day so we go to bed tired and we wake up hungry. And this time of year, some people are looking for the next thing. And for us, it’s, let’s go to bed tired today because we put a great effort in and let’s wake up hungry and do it again.

“That’s how you pass people out. That’s how you establish a culture. And that’s how you have a personality of fight and that character part. Games like this, and you win a couple in a row, it gives you confidence that you can play with anybody. But you gotta hold yourself to that standard and you got to do it every day.”

Sunday afternoon, the Nittany Lions will get their next opportunity to continue the trend. Traveling to Chicago, Penn State will look to avenge a 76-72 loss to Northwestern on Jan. 10 when they take on the Wildcats in Evanston, Ill.

Here is a snapshot of the game’s details:

Game time, how to watch: Penn State (12-11 overall, 6-6 B1G, NET 98) at Northwestern (16-7, 5-6 B1G, NET 55)

Venue: Welsh-Ryan Arena
Tip time: 1:00 p.m. ET – Sunday, Feb. 11
TV: Big Ten Network – Dave Revsine (play by play) & Robbie Hummel (analyst)
RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (play by play) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
NATIONAL RADIO: Sirius XM Ch. 382 & SXM App Ch. 972
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast | Live Stats
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Northwestern

What is the Penn State-Northwestern spread?

The Nittany Lions are 8-point underdogs to Northwestern on Sunday afternoon. And, the over/under betting total is 145.5 points. 

Injury report

Penn State guard Kanye Clary returned from injury during the Nittany Lions’ win over Iowa on Thursday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center. He put up eight points and three assists over 18 minutes against the Hawkeyes.

Giving the Nittany Lions a boost, while taking on a reduced role following a two game absence, Clary delivered exactly as Rhoades had hoped.

“Just come back and give us a lift. Come back and give us momentum,” said Rhoades. “The thing about it is, he’s a dynamic player. Him and Ace out there is still a dynamic backcourt. Some other guys playing a lot of minutes when he was out, it’s giving them great experience. So now we have more options because of it.

“He’s a very talented player. And it’s great. Sometimes when you have injuries and people are out, other guys have to step up, but it gains valuable experience. It’s character builders for those guys that had to help us last week and today. So it gives us options. We want to be a deep team. So these guys through injuries are getting out there and now they’re helping us as we move along. “

While Clary came back, Penn State had a new absence in its most recent game. Playing in 20 games this season and starting 10, Puff Johnson was in street clothes for the outing against the Hawkeyes. Asked after the game of Johnson’s status, Rhoades offered limited insight.

“He’s day to day,” said Rhoades. “Hopefully we can have him for Sunday. So just day to day.”

Northwestern, meanwhile, has injury concerns to deal with, too. Ty Berry, a starter in every one of the Wildcats’ past 57 games between last season and this, with 110 games played in his four-year career, is out indefinitely and will miss the game after sustaining an injury against Nebraska on Wednesday night.

In the previous meeting between the two teams in January, Berry scored 16 points, with four made 3-pointers, in the Wildcats’ win at the BJC.