Northwestern, as it has been time and time again in Big Ten play, was in free fall.
Three minutes into the second half, the Wildcats had built a 20-point lead at Penn State, but over the next 11 minutes, the Nittany Lions cut that lead down to 4.
Head coach Chris Collins went with his "veteran" lineup for most of that stretch, his starting five of sophomore Bryant McIntosh and senior Tre Demps as guards, junior Sanjay Lumpkin and freshman Aaron Falzon as forwards and senior Alex Olah in the middle.
Conventional wisdom would say that the experience and leadership usually shown by veteran players would calm his team and ease their nerves.