CHICAGO – Postseason play begins Tuesday night for the Penn State men’s basketball team as the Nittany Lions open up the 2026 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament against Northwestern at approximately 7:30 p.m. from the United Center in Chicago.

The winner of Tuesday’s Penn State-Northwestern game advances to Wednesday’s second round to face Indiana at 6:30 p.m.

The 15th-seeded Wildcats finished the regular season 13-18 overall and 5-15 in Big Ten play. The Wildcats ended the regular season with two-straight losses, falling at Minnesota (66-67) on March 7 and against Purdue (66-70) on March 4.

Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli is the Big Ten’s leading scorer and averages 22.7 points per game. Arrinten Page is the only other Wildcat averaging double-digit points with his 10.2 points per contest.

Penn State and Northwestern met just once this season, a 94-73 Wildcat win in Evanston, Ill. on Jan. 29. The Nittany Lions were paced by Kayden Mingo’s 15-point, four-assist effort. Ivan Juric contributed 14 points and a team-high six rebounds, Josh Reed dropped 11 points with three boards, and Freddie Dilione V rounded out the quartet of Nittany Lions in double figures with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Penn State has two assistant coaches on its sideline that know what it takes to lead the Nittany Lions to Big Ten Tournament success in Talor Battle and Joe Crispin.

Battle led the 2011 Nittany Lions to their first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship game as an All-Tournament selection. He still owns PSU B1G Tourney records for most points (71) and 3-pointers made (14) in a single tournament. His 2011 team advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Crispin guided the Nittany Lions to back-to-back Big Ten Tournament semifinal appearances in 2000 and 2001, earning All-Tournament honors in 2001. He owns Penn State Big Ten tourney records in career assists (40) and career 3-pointers made (20), while ranking second all-time in school history in most career points scored in the Big Ten Tournament (127). Crispin’s 2001 Nittany Lion team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State has won a Big Ten Tournament game in each of the last four tournaments that the Nittany Lions have competed in.