It sure wasn't pretty, but in the end Wisconsin (18-5, 7-3 conf.) found a way to pull it out, winning 52-46 over Penn State (10-13, 2-8 conf.) to extend their winning streak to a conference best six straight games. It also vaulted the Badgers to 2nd place in the conference standings with a game against Big Ten leader Ohio State on the horizon.
Jordan Taylor paced Wisconsin with 18 points, including hitting an absolutely clutch 3 pointer with 1:44 left in the game, as well as 6 straight free throws to push the Badgers to victory in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
Taylor really put Wisconsin on his back, scoring 13 of the final 17 points for Bucky in the win.
There's a saying out there "Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it," and after the 1st half it sure looked like Wisconsin didn't remember what the last meeting between these two teams looked like.
Give credit to a good defensive effort for the Nittany Lions, but Wisconsin was simply ice cold, going nearly 8 minutes between baskets as Penn State managed to double up the Badgers at 18-9 with just about 4 minutes left in the 1st half. Luckily Wisconsin found a way to come up with a few more points and were equal to the task on defense as they were only down 6 at the half, 17-23.
Just how bad were things for Wisconsin? They shot a paltry 2-11 from beyond the arc and shot only 26.9% from the field in the 1st half.
What helped to keep the Badgers in the game was a defense that didn't foul much, only allowing Penn State to attempt one free throw in the half. They also shot 25% from behind the 3 point line and leading scorer Tim Frazier was held quite, scoring only 4 points in the half.
Pacing Penn State for the 1st half was Jermain Marshall with his 10 points on 5-7 shooting in the half.
No Badger had more than 5 points (Jordan Taylor) and only Taylor and Evans had more than one field goal in the half.
Someone must have given Wisconsin a history lesson at the half as things were dramatically different for the Badgers in the 2nd half.
Wisconsin was as hot to start the 2nd half as they were cold in the 1st, using a 16-3 run to start play to open up a 33-26 lead at the 11:22 mark. It also mean that the Badgers were able to nearly double their ouput from the 1st half in just the first ten minutes of the 2nd half.
But the run was ended and Penn State fought back to as close as 38-40 with 3:36 left in the game. However, that's when Jordan Taylor decided to really shine and Wisconsin found itself hitting free throws to ice the game away down the final minute.
Overall Penn State was lead by the usual suspect, Tim Frazier, who poured in 21 points, 17 of which came in the 2nd half. As a team Penn State shot just 36% from the field as Wisconsin bothered them all half and forced them to shoot just 26.9% in the 2nd half.
It was the opposite for Wisconsin, which shot 45.5% in the 2nd half and improved to 35.4% overall. They also went 12-18 on free throws in the 2nd half, really helping their cause in the victory.
Joining Taylor in double figures was only Ryan Evans who added 11 points on 5-12 shooting for the game.
Wisconsin now faces it's toughest stretch of games as it takes on Ohio State, Minnesota, and Michigan State over it's next three games. Ohio State is up next on Saturday at 1pm Central on ESPN.
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