The Badgers ended their three-game losing streak Tuesday, beating Penn State 63-60 at the Kohl Center. Although he wasn’t particularly sharp from the field, Tyler Wahl scored 10 points (3-10 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 3-6 FT) in his return to the lineup after missing those three losses with a right ankle injury.
Wisconsin was able to capitalize off of the 10 turnovers they forced in Tuesday’s contest, turning those mistakes by Penn State into 15 points on the offensive end. On the opposite side, the Nittany Lions were unable to turn the Badgers’ six turnovers into any points of their own.
Steven Crowl was the leading scorer in the game, producing 21 points (9-16 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 2-4 FT) while reeling in 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Chucky Hepburn and Connor Essegian each scored in double-digits, compiling 13 points (3-7 FG, 2-2 3Pt, 5-6 FT) and 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-4 FT) respectively.
Essegian was making his first career start and the freshman reached at least 10 points for the third consecutive game and the fourth time over his last five contests total.
Max Klesmit suffered a cut to the face in the first half and was limited to just 10 minutes in the contest. More information on his status moving forward will likely come ahead of the Badgers’ next game Saturday.
For Penn State, senior guards Jalen Pickett and Andrew Funk led the way, scoring 19 and 16 points respectively. Pickett filled the stat sheet with 12 rebounds and six assists while Funk in particular produced from deep, making three out of eight three-point attempts in the contest. He’s now gone 10-for-20 on three-pointers over the last two games.
Penn State had an opportunity to send the game to overtime late in the game with Funk missing a long-range shot in the final seconds, losing the contest 63-60 as a result.
The Badgers improved to 12-5 with the win and are now 4-3 in Big Ten contests this season. Up next for Wisconsin is a matchup with Northwestern (12-5) on the road Saturday at 11 AM.
For Penn State, the loss drops them to 12-6 on the year and 3-4 in the conference. The Nittany Lions will head back home to take on Nebraska (9-9) at 2:15 PM on Saturday.
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