[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]STATE COLLEGE, Penn. — It wasn't the prettiest of victories, and it wasn't the most conventional by any means, but the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team picked up its first road win in more than a month Saturday afternoon with an 82-62 bulldozing of Penn State at Bryce Jordan Arena.

And what a bulldozing it was. Sophomore Brian Butch bruised his way to 23 points and 12 rebounds, both career-highs, and UW outscored Penn State by an astounding 28-2 in the paint during the second half, helping the Badgers shoot 50 percent from the field. All of this despite limited production from leading scorer Alando Tucker, who spent most of the game in foul trouble.

"We knew coming in we had an advantage height-wise, so we just tried to capitalize on that," junior forward Jason Chappell said of the Nittany Lion squad, which only sported one player taller than 6-foot-6 who saw more than four minutes on the court.

For Wisconsin (17-7, 7-4 Big Ten), the triumph marked the first road victory since squeaking out a 64-62 victory over Minnesota on Jan. 10. It was the team's sixth victory over Penn State (11-11, 3-8) in their past seven meetings.

"There's no question we have struggled on the road," Butch said. "Today, we needed a road win and we got it, and that just shows how committed everyone in that locker room was to getting a big win."

"A road win is always good, no matter who is it against," Chappell said.

Butch and the rest of the Badger big men had a field day against the undersized Nittany Lions and their zone defense, collecting 19 offensive rebounds and out-rebounding Penn State overall by 21 (45-24), the team's largest margin of the season.

"That was a big difference in the game," Ryan said of UW's work on the glass. "It wasn't necessarily the first guy that touched the ball, but we got several offensive rebounds by the second guy grabbing the ball and keeping it alive."

"Everyone was on the offensive rebounds," Butch said. "You were down there, and you saw two red jerseys down there and you knew that everybody wanted this win."

Butch's performance was good for the third double-double of his career. The big forward put on a clinic in the post, showing off his entire offensive repertoire by making 11 of his 15 shot attempts.

"It's good to see him provide a lot of scoring," Chappell said. "It's good he had his moves going."

Chappell had a career game as well, collecting nine rebounds and dishing out a personal-best seven assists, without turning the ball over once.

"It's making me feel I should be playing a different position," joked Chappell, who also scored five points.

The game began ominously for Wisconsin. After taking an early lead, the Badgers went through an all-too-familiar scoring drought that spanned 6:19, allowing Penn State to take a two-point lead at the half.

The Nittany Lions were carried by forwards Geary Claxton, with 21 points, and Jamelle Cornley with 11. The duo was able to do as they pleased against the defense of UW's big men early on in the contest.

"People say Penn State is not that tall, but … they play hard and they're strong," Ryan said. "And in that first half, they were so strong in the paint, they were getting it where they wanted it and doing a lot of nice things."

"We survived the first half," Ryan concluded.

However, the second half was a different story, as the Badger frontline played to their size and opened the half with a 16-4 run, giving Wisconsin a 10-point lead they would never relinquish. Much of the run occurred with Tucker on the bench, as the Big Ten's leading scorer in league play picked up his third foul with 16:02 left to play.

UW's bigs also stepped up defensively in the second period of play, holding Cornley scoreless and allowing only one basket to be scored inside.

"We did a good job today of catching ourselves," junior guard Kammron Taylor said. "The games where we were struggling, we didn't catch ourselves, we just dug ourselves a bigger hole."

For all of the Badgers' interior superiority, the game's leading scorer wasn't Butch or another UW big man, but Taylor, who hit a career-high six 3-pointers on seven attempts, pouring in 24 points.

"Most of my threes came off of kick-outs and penetration," Taylor said, crediting the inside work of the forwards. "I was doing a good job of showing myself, and my teammates did a good job of finding me."

Although there were only eight turnovers total, the game wasn't the most picturesque 20-point blowout ever played. At times it was downright ugly, as both squads threw up a bevy of air balls and had several clumsy drives into the lane, but UW miraculously seemed to often benefit from such plays.

On one such possession in the second half, sophomore guard Michael Flowers appeared to dribble the ball off his leg on the perimeter. After spinning around a bit to regain possession of the ball, he cut towards the basket and made a no-look pass to Butch who was crashing the boards. Butch didn't catch the ball cleanly and looped a shot that started at his knee, and ended over his head and off the glass and in the basket for two points.

It was just that kind of day for Butch and the Badgers.

"To come out with a win was really, really good here," Butch said.