Lamar Stevens recorded 23 points and seven rebounds as No. 13 Penn State won its eighth straight game, beating visiting Northwestern 77-61 on Saturday afternoon at University Park, Pa.

The Nittany Lions (20-5, 10-4 Big Ten) matched their best conference record at this point in the season since joining the league in 1992. The 20 victories are also tied for the most in school history after 25 games.

Stevens was eight of 17 from the field and became the third Penn State player to top 2,100 career points. He's 35 behind Jesse Arnelle (2,138 from 1951-55) for second place on the school scoring list.

The game was determined from 3-point range and on the glass, with Penn State dominating in both areas. The Lions made 11 triples, albeit on 31 attempts, compared to two of 14 for Northwestern, and they held a 42-30 rebounding edge.

Penn State also made the most of the Wildcats' 11 turnovers, converting them into 19 points.

The Lions used a 15-4 run midway through the first half to take control, holding a 42-28 halftime edge then extended that margin to 58-40 on a Stevens layup with 12:13 left. Northwestern (6-18, 1-13) got as close as 64-57 on a Pete Nance jumper with 5:16 left before Penn State's Myles Dread canned a 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer went off.

Dread, who had 16 points and hit four 3-pointers, started and ended a 13-0 run to lock things up and keep Penn State within a game of first-place Maryland in the loss column. The Lions own the tiebreaker, having beat the Terrapins 76-69 in December.

Nance and Boo Buie had 12 apiece for Northwestern, which has lost nine straight overall and 12 in a row on the road in Big Ten play.

--Field Level Media