Following a back-and-forth bout against Chris Collins’ Northwestern Wildcats, Greg Gard’s University of Wisconsin Badgers (14-9, 6-7 Big Ten) outlasted Micah Shrewsberry’s Penn State Nittany Lions (14-10, 5-8) 79-74 in overtime Feb. 8 at State College.
As victors in 17 of the 18 previous matches against Penn State, the Badgers entered Wednesday’s action with well over a decade of success against the Nittany Lions. Regardless, PSU’s versatile superstar, Jalen Pickett, nearly led his group to its first victory in program history at the Kohl Center on Jan. 17. Unfortunately for the white and blue, Steven Crowl and company spoiled the party and escaped with a three-point triumph.
In a contest consisting of eight ties and eight lead changes, the 125th anniversary team orchestrated one of its most impressive all-around games of the 2022-2023 campaign. Despite facing a six-rebound discrepancy and yielding yet another subpar split from the charity stripe, Wisconsin’s offense appeared fluid and functional. Gard’s starting lineup accounted for roughly 87% of UW’s scoring output, including a resurgent 16-tally effort from Tyler Wahl.
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Reminiscent of a heavyweight bout between Rocky Balboa and Clubber Lang, the two adversaries exchanged blows for the entire first half. Neither squad established a double-digit advantage at any point, and both offenses scored at all three levels during the opening frame. Crowl operated as both an enforcer and distributor in the low post — the seven-footer chalked up five points, five boards and three dimes in his first 11 minutes.
Wisconsin concluded the half with a swift 52.2% mark from the field, including 44.4% from downtown and nearly 87.5% from the free throw line. Wahl, responsible for just 10 total points in his last two appearances, jogged into the tunnel with 10 tallies at the break. With eight assists on 12 field goals, Gard’s group employed an inside-out half-court scheme, something traditional Badger groups excelled in during past tournament runs.
Unlike the preliminary 20 minutes of regulation, Penn State controlled most of the second half. Sure, the Nittany Lions led for just 1:16 of clock, but the aura within Bryce Jordan Center, coupled with remarkable outside efficiency, propelled PSU to overcome a six-point deficit at intermission.
For roughly 14 minutes, Shrewsberry meticulously baited Wisconsin’s defenders into collapsing on Pickett, allowing Myles Dread, Andrew Funk and Seth Lundy to capitalize from beyond-the-arc.
Despite all the seesawing, the final 6:30 encapsulated the contest. From that point on, Wisconsin’s sharpshooters traded clutch, deep buckets with Penn State’s weapons. After PSU took its first lead of the second half, Chucky Hepburn responded from Curry-land. The sophomore drilled a three-pointer near the Nittany Lion logo, but Camren Wynter decided to utilize his do-it-yourself kit for a spinning floater in the lane.
The Big Ten foes hit a rough patch of scoring turbulence for over a minute, but with 33.7 seconds to spare, Hepburn mimicked Portland’s Damian Lillard on a step-back snipe from the top of the key over the outstretched hand of Funk.
As if on queue, Lundy buried a heavily contested, fadeaway three-pointer from the right wing, knotting the match at 68 apiece and presenting college hoops fanatics with another overtime thriller.
UW’s freshman spark plug, Connor Essegian opened the extra frame with ice in his veins. The Indiana native canned a three from way outside to balloon the Badger edge to four.
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On each sequence, even if Penn State executed on their end, Wisconsin countered with a monumental score. Wahl fed a Jokic-esque shovel pass into Crowl for a right-handed layup and after Pickett nailed a layup to cut PSU’s deficit to two, Max Klesmit accelerated into the lane for a pivotal left-handed score. The defensive bruiser racked up just five total points on the evening, but his bucket sealed the deal for UW.
In the end, the contest revolved around how the Badgers involved each of their scoring cogs. Hepburn, Essegian, Wahl and Crowl each reached double-digits, and the team recorded a blistering 11-24 split from three-point range. Through disciplined movement, facilitation and shot selection, the Badgers accumulated 16 assists and an advantageous 16 points off turnovers. With just a month remaining in the regular season, this win may provide a spark before both the conference tournament and Big Dance.
“This group, mentally, hasn’t given in … in terms of going through a losing streak or not playing as well as we can,” Gard said in his post game press conference. “When things are going well, it’s easy to cruise along, but as you get into some rough patches, you gotta find a way to fight through it … the microcosm is what we saw in overtime.”
For Wisconsin, Hepburn registered game-high 19 points and five three-point snipes in 40 minutes of action while backcourt mate Essegian poured in six field and four long-range looks. Wahl scored 16 points, corralled six rebounds and dished out eight helpers, and his teammate Crowl reached double-digits for the 13th time this season.
On the opposite side, Pickett again flirted with a triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight helpers. Lundy notched 14 tallies, seized nine Badger misfires and snatched three Wisconsin giveaways. Wynter and Funk combined for 25 of Penn State’s 74 total points, but UW denied the two outside threats from detonating Wednesday.
Looking ahead, Wisconsin ventures to Lincoln, Nebraska for its first swing against Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, Feb. 11.
