Drew Crawford scored a game-high 21 points and keyed two decisive second-half surges that lifted Northwestern to a 68-56 home win over Penn State Sunday, snapping a string of six consecutive losses against the Nittany Lions.

Alex Marcotullio and Crawford hit back-to-back 3-pointers to begin an 8-0 run that put the Wildcats (11-3, 1-1 Big Ten) up 48-40 with 11:25 remaining. Penn State got as close as four before a Crawford dunk began another 9-1 burst that stretched the margin to double digits heading into the final minutes.

Dave Sobolewski finished with 20 points and John Shurna added 17 for Northwestern, which shot 71 percent (15-for-21) from the field in the second half and 55 percent for the night.

Tim Frazier scored 16 points to lead Penn State (8-7, 0-2), which used a 25-14 first-half rebounding advantage to help build a three-point lead going into the break.