Earlier this season the Badgers lost a late lead to the Nittany Lions in what may be considered their worst loss of the season. For a while on Saturday afternoon, it appeared that history would be repeated at the Kohl Center when the last place Lions drew to within one point of Wisconsin with just 17 seconds remaining.
This time, however, the Badgers were able to stave off the Lions and hold on to win 66-63.
Both teams were slow to start before the crowd of 17,142. After six minutes of play, the score was just 4-3 before Kirk Penney and Mike Wilkinson combined to score eight points and give the Badgers a seven point lead over the next three minutes of the game.
The Badgers were in their comfort zone throughout the majority of the first half as they went on to extend the lead to as many as 15 points, dominating the paint. Wisconsin forced Penn State’s big men to the outside, while their own post work was the most impressive of the season. After the first half, the Badgers had 18 points in the paint, compared with just two points there for Penn State.
“We got posted and got the ball in to them and got some fouls,” said UW head coach Bo Ryan. “The thing that our guys will have to continue to work at is getting good post position and finishing when we get it down there, but this was one of our best days in terms of the post.”
The Badgers, who were coming off their worst game of the season against Illinois last Wednesday night, were led in scoring by Kirk Penney who had 20 points on 8-13 shooting. Penney, who had been ill for several weeks, displayed that his endurance was indeed back as he played 38 minutes for the Badgers.
Junior point guard Brandon Watkins led the Lions with 19 points and was the spark plug in Penn State’s second half rally. After the Badgers pushed their lead to a game high 18 points with over 17 minutes remaining in the second half, the Lions began their climb back into the game. At one point in the second half, the Lions made a 10-0 run in which Watkins had a hand in all four scores, dishing out two assists and scoring five quick points.
“You have to expect (the run), but we have to nail the coffin down,” said UW forward Charlie Wills. “When we are up by 15 or 20 we need to put the finish on it. We are not doing that, but hopefully we will learn how to do that. This is a young team and we have to keep going and keep learning.”
Trailing three points with 16 seconds left, the Badgers were able to blanket the Lions’ best three-point shooting threats and force 6-foot-8 senior forward Tyler Smith to take the last second shot instead of allowing the Big Ten’s leading three point shooter, Sharif Chambliss, to get an open look.
“At the end we didn’t let Chambliss get the ball to hit a three, maybe have someone else get the ball to try to make a tough one,” commented Ryan. “There was sure a heck of a lot more pressure out there than there was on Lynn Greer earlier this year. I’m sitting here going ‘our guys have learned something.’ People will focus on a lead going down but what I see at the end is the big free throws and not letting them get a decent look at a three. That’s progress.”
The Lions, who are 1-6 in the Big Ten and have struggled throughout the season, were disappointed with the loss, although head coach Jerry Dunn was pleased that his players did not fold after going down by as many as 28 in the second half.
“There are times where you know as a coach with a young team that some nights you will go into a game and everything will go wrong,” said Dunn. “I don’t think we have the type of guys that will lay down, obviously there is a lot of youthfulness there, but there is also a lot of competitiveness and I think we’ll get better.”
With the victory, the Badgers move to 5-3 in the Big Ten, a mark good enough for third place. They remain a half game ahead of Illinois, who lost to second place Indiana on Saturday.
