The Penn State men's basketball team didn't learn its lesson.

After having trouble with, but beating, Northwestern at The Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 13, the Nittany Lions went to Evanston, Ill., Wednesday and were upset, 62-61, by the Wildcats.

Penn State (16-8, 6-7 Big Ten) lost to Northwestern in a game that saw a team with only one previous win in the Big Ten upset a squad that was riding a three-game winning streak and getting hot late in the season.

Northwestern freshman Jitim Young drove the lane and laid the ball in for a lay-up with 5.7 seconds for the game winner. Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn decided not to call a timeout to set up a final play. Senior guard Joe Crispin missed a shot at the buzzer.

The Lions put themselves in a bad situation early, as they didn't take advantage of Northwestern's poor shooting in the first half. Penn State then let the Wildcats run off 12 unanswered points to end the half.

"The bottom line is we were doing a good job defensively but we shot the ball poorly," Dunn said of the Lions play in the first 20 minutes.

Penn State was up 59-56 with 1:08 left to play in the game, but a few missed shots by the Lions and two foul shots by Northwestern forward Tavaras Hardy put the Wildcats back on top at 60-59. A quick pull-up shot from Joe Crispin put the Lions ahead 61-60 and after a timeout by Northwestern men's basketball coach Bill Carmody, Young hit the game-winning shot.

Hardy paced Northwestern with 23 points and nine rebounds and Young contributed with 10 points, but more importantly, the game winner in the final seconds.

Hardy controlled the game down low as he muscled his way closer and closer to the basket. The Wildcat guards entered the ball to him and the 6-foot-8 forward was scoring. Dunn said no one on the Penn State defense could stop him in the paint.

"They got the ball to him down on the box which hurt us the most," the sixth-year coach said. "They went to Tavaras Hardy and we never stopped him. Our post defense was poor."

Also lacking for the Lions was their play off the bench as its only two points came from Ndu Egekeze. The Lions coach said he wasn't pleased with his bench's production and he added that every time he would substitute, hoping for a lift, no one stepped up.

Sophomore reserve guard Brandon Watkins wasn't pleased, either. Even though Watkins said the Lions didn't overlook the Big Ten's bottom team, Penn State just didn't play very well — or very hard.

"We didn't come here to play at all tonight," Watkins said.

"We came out very lackadaisical on offense and the defense didn't guard anybody."

Although Penn State didn't have a turnover in the second half, Northwestern played with a lot of poise when the Lions picked up their defensive pressure, committing only two turnovers in the second stanza.

Watkins said the team knew that Northwestern was going to drive the ball to the basket for the winning shot, but still couldn't stop Young when he finished the lay-up.

"We just had to bear down and play defense," the guard said.

"We couldn't let anybody beat us and they beat us."

Penn State, a team fighting for an NCAA Tournament berth, couldn't have had this loss come at a worse time.

But the Nittany Lions must come back Saturday evening to challenge Michigan State in a sellout at The Bryce Jordan Center.