[media-credit name=’MEGHAN CONLIN/Herald Photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]It's back to the future for the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team this weekend. After putting the breaks to their three-game losing skid, the Badgers will travel to State College, Penn., Saturday to take on the only team they managed to defeat during the rough stretch where they lost five of six — Penn State.

The Nittany Lions (11-10, 3-7 Big Ten) are a team on the rise this season, though their record betrays such an assertion. Several times this season Penn State has had some of the conference's best teams on the ropes or has kept the game close until late, but come away with only losses to show for it. Still one more conference victory would be the most for Penn State since the 2000-2001 season, when they went 7-9.

"People look past a team like Penn State because their record's not so good, but they can take any team out on any given day," senior forward Ray Nixon said.

That was proven just last Saturday, when the Nittany Lions cruised into Illinois and emerged victorious over the Illini 66-65, in one of the more surprising upsets of the conference season.

"They moved the ball pretty well and they were patient and they really attacked Illinois. I think they took Illinois off their game and got on a roll a bit," Nixon said. "They're a great team."

In the earlier match-up between UW and Penn State at the Kohl Center, the night was defined by the Badgers shooting lights out in the first half and holding Penn State's supporting cast in check in a 72-43 blowout.

The only player who was able to find success against the Wisconsin defense was sophomore standout Geary Claxton, who is fast becoming one of the conference's top performers.

"He is so good athletically, he is going to hit his shots, it's just a matter of whether they go down," Badgers head coach Bo Ryan said of the second-year forward.

"He's aggressive. He's so long and active that if he can get going his team can be dangerous," Nixon said.

Claxton leads the Nittany Lions in a litany of categories including scoring (15.6 points per game), rebounds (7.0 per game), steals (1.2 per game) and blocks (0.7 per game) and also can flash a three-point shot from time-to-time.

"He has a long wingspan, really tough post-up and he can slash," Ryan said. "He's not a bad outside shooter. So anytime you have an all-around game you have to get help."

Although Wisconsin was able to keep Claxton's running mates under wraps in Madison, Penn State does have other weapons, such as freshman-of-the-year frontrunner candidate Jamelle Cornley who is averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 boards a game. Forward Ben Luber and guard Travis Parker also can create problems for a defense, especially when the outside shots are falling.

"They know Penn State can score," Ryan said, reaffirming that his players know full well the capabilities of the Nittany Lion attack. "[The players] know Claxton is quite the athlete. They know that [the guards] have range with their threes. They know Parker can shoot the three and take it inside. Cornley is tough and physical around [the basket]."

Wisconsin, fresh off ending one three-game losing streak, will try to end another by defeating Penn State, as UW has lost it's last three (and five of six) road contests this season.

"Man, it's very important," Kammron Taylor said of picking up a road win. "To go on the road and get wins, that is definitely key to the Big Ten because a lot of home teams are holding down their home court, so to go into a place like Penn State, where we know the environment is going to be tough, would definitely be good for us."

The tough atmosphere that Taylor speaks of is not the typical, raucous, sold-out arena atmosphere that the team usually sees at Big Ten venues like Michigan State, Illinois and Indiana, but instead will be a less than half-full Bryce Jordan Center. For a team used to playing in front of over 17,000, a crowd of possibly under 7,000 could make things difficult.

"It makes things a little bit tougher," Nixon said. "You are used to having sold out games all the time at your house and you go to a place where they really can't see the fans, but that is when the team has to come together and be our own fans."

"You got to get yourself motivated a little more and just be ready when tip-off comes and that you have enough energy, because you aren't going to get much from the crowd."

The overall feeling was that Penn State, for a variety of reasons, is not a team that can be taken lightly.

"It just shows in this league you can't take a night off any night, whether you're home or away," Chappell said. "You know that any team is capable of beating you so you just have to be ready."