The past couple weeks, Kirk Penney has been battling the flu. The junior guard sat out of practice before the Minnesota game on Jan. 16 and had struggled in the Badgers’ two most recent games against Illinois and Purdue.
Against Minnesota, Penney scored a game-high 19 points, but was one of six from three-point range. In Wisconsin’s win over the Boilermakers, Penney, who leads the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game, scored only nine points on three of seven shooting.
Against Illinois last Wednesday, Penney, who was often covered by Illini star Frank Williams, was limited to five points, and failed to get to the free-throw line.
Then, against Penn State on Saturday, Penney proved why he is the Badgers’ premier player. The 6-foot-5 Penney, who may have lost a few pounds from his 205-pound frame during his bout with the flu, appeared as if he had regained his vitality as well as his shooting touch against the Nittany Lions on Saturday, shooting 8-13 from the field and also grabbing six rebounds.
In the closing minutes of the first half, Penney, who used to be considered mainly a shooting threat, proved just how complete his game is. With 4:14 left in the first half, the junior entered a perfect feed to Mike Wilkinson under the basket, and Wilkinson converted the easy bucket.
With 2:12 left in the half, Penney received the ball in the post, threw an array of moves to get his defender in the air, and put in the layup. He then came off a screen to hit a 15-foot jumper with 1:18 left in the half.
The next time down Penney hit the floor to collect a rebound off a Brandon Watkins miss and, with no one to pass the ball to, alertly called a timeout. After Penney’s rebound, the Badgers missed two long-range attempts while Jamal Tate made a three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining in the half.
Despite these misses, Penney’s efforts helped keep the Badgers’ lead over the Lions at 12 points at halftime, as the teams went into the locker room with the Badgers leading 32-20. Penn State was never able to overcome the deficit in the second half, and once again, Penney played a key role in holding off the Lions.
After the Lions went on a 21-8 run to cut the Wisconsin lead to four, Devin Harris hit two free throws and Travon Davis hit one to put the Badger lead at 53-46. On the Badgers’ next possession, Penney knocked down a huge jumper, igniting the crowd and giving the Badgers a 55-46 lead.
Finally, with 5:19 left in the game, Penney once again dove for a loose ball (this time an offensive rebound), flew to the floor and called a timeout. The Badgers then held off the Lions for the rest of the game, allowing them to cut the lead to three but forcing Tyler Smith to take a bad shot as time expired to seal the 66-63 victory.
Back Home: In his return to his home state, Penn State guard Sharif Chambliss struggled initially. In the first half, Chambliss, who leads the Lions with 14.5 points per game, was only one of four from the field. The 6-foot-1 Chambliss, who leads the Big Ten with 3.8 three-pointers made per game, missed both of his three-point attempts in the half and only scored five points in the frame.
In the second half, however, the sweet-shooting Chambliss heated up, and almost shot the Lions back into the game. He was three of four from the field in the half, and hit two of three treys.
Chambliss was fouled by Devin Harris while attempting a three with 5:42 remaining, and he hit two of his three free throws. With 3:02 left in the game, Chambliss hit a three-pointer to cut the Badger lead to nine.
With 27 seconds remaining in the game, Chambliss intercepted a Kirk Penney lob pass, raced down the court and found his backcourt mate Brandon Watkins wide open on the wing for a deep three that made the game 64-63.
It would have been fitting, with the score 66-63, for the Racine native and three-point specialist Chambliss to get the final attempt against Wisconsin, but it was not to be.
After two free throws from Travon Davis, Penn State appeared to be trying to get the ball to Chambliss for the last shot, but the Badgers’ tough defense wouldn’t allow him to get open. Watkins was forced to get the ball to Tyler Smith, who missed a three at the buzzer.
