Revenge is a dish best served at home.
The No. 19 University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (14-5, 7-4 Big Ten) bounced back after a shaky first half to defeat unranked Penn State (6-8, 3-7), 72–56.
The Badgers started out hot early, jumping out to a 12–9 lead after the game’s first four minutes. Wisconsin shot 5-for-7 during that stretch and all of the buckets were scored by frontcourt players. While the Badgers were hot to open the gates, things got sloppy as the first half progressed.
A layup from Wisconsin senior Trevor Anderson got the lead to 24–18, but the Nittany Lions crept back into the game due to Wisconsin’s sloppy first-half play. The Badgers committed a stunning total of 11 turnovers in the first half, two more than their season average (8.8) going into Tuesday’s matchup.
Men’s Basketball: Badgers look to get back on track in second matchup against Penn State
Penn State’s Seth Lundy sunk a 3-pointer to deadlock the game at 25 and the Badgers would have trailed at the half if not for a Brad Davison buzzer-beater propelling the Badgers to a narrow 33–31 lead at the break.
The second half was all Wisconsin. The Badgers exploded out of the gates in the second half, scoring the first nine points and increasing the lead to 42–31. A Nittany Lion basket cut the lead to single digits, but Wisconsin responded as senior Brad Davison buried a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 12.
The final portion of the game was all Jonathan Davis.
Tuesday was a test to Davis’ mental toughness as the star freshman struggled in the first half. Davis was held quiet with only three points, but bounced back in the second half scoring 11 points, including three 3-pointers, in the final 11 minutes. Davis’ fourth 3-pointer pushed the game out of reach as the Badgers led 65–44.
Throughout the game, Wisconsin received a huge lift from their bench. It didn’t seem to matter that Davison and backcourt counterpart D’Mitrik Trice were held to a combined 13 points on a lousy 3-for-15 shooting night, as Wisconsin’s bench combined for an astounding 35 points.
Along with Davis’ 17 points, Anderson almost tripled his scoring average with nine points and senior Nate Reuvers finished with nine points. Reuvers’ final basket also made him the 47th player in Wisconsin men’s basketball history with 1,000 points.
This milestone is another accolade in Reuvers’ impressive resume as a Badger — the senior also became the Wisconsin all-time leader in blocks in Wisconsin’s non-conference win against Rhode Island earlier this season.
The Badgers return to action Saturday in a ranked showdown on the road against Illinois. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
