Wisconsin enters Saturday’s contest against No. 20 Penn State in State College having won 12 straight against the Nittany Lions, but this could very well be the second game in a row the Badgers see an impressive head-to-head winning streak come to a close after snapping a run of 15 straight victories against Illinois in Wednesday’s loss to the Illini in Madison.
Head coach Pat Chambers has his squad ranked in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time in 24 years, and the Nittany Lions look like a pretty safe bet to get back to the NCAA Tournament after an eight-year hiatus. Before falling at Rutgers on Tuesday, Penn State had put together a five-game winning streak that including home victories over No. 4 Maryland and No. 23 Iowa. It’s clear at this point in the season that this is the best group Penn State has had in a very long time.
With that being said, here are the three players on the other side who Badger fans should keep a close eye on throughout Saturday’s contest.
Lamar Stevens – Forward
Current stats: 16.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.2 bpg, 46.1 FG%
One of the all-time great players in the history of Penn State’s program, Stevens is capping off a marvelous career with an outstanding senior season.
The 6-8 forward from Philadelphia was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list that was released earlier this week and is looking like a top contender for Big Ten Player of the Year honors as the conference’s No. 5 scorer and No. 13 rebounder. Stevens is also one of Penn State’s top defenders, ranking second on the team in both blocks and steals.
The Nittany Lions may have lost both matchups to the Badgers last season, but Stevens certainly was not to blame; he scored 22 points in both contests.
Mike Watkins – Forward
Current stats: 11.1 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.3 bpg, 1.0 spg, 62.8 FG%
At this point, you have to sympathize a bit with Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter. The two bigs have had to bang with two of the Big Ten’s most formidable post players in Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson and Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn in Wisconsin’s last two games, and the trend is set to continue on Saturday against Watkins.
While the 6-9, 254-pound senior isn’t as dangerous a scorer as those two, he’s just as much of a dominant force in the paint. One of the Big Ten’s top defenders, Watkins leads the conference in blocks per game, and he’s a monster on the boards as well (No. 6 in rebounds per game).
While racking up points isn’t exactly what he does best, Watkins is still more than capable of getting his on that end of the floor. At 61.9 percent, his career field goal percentage ranks second among all active Big Ten players.
Myreon Jones – Guard
Current stats: 14.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.3 spg, 44.4 FG%, 41.1 3P%
After averaging 4 points in just 10.8 minutes of action per game as a freshman last year, Jones’ production has skyrocketed in year two.
Thee 6-3 guard out of Birmingham has added more than ten points to his scoring average as a sophomore and has been Penn State’s best offensive player not named Lamar Stevens this season. He ranks behind only Stevens in scoring and is also the team’s top facilitator at just shy of three assists per game.
Jones is one of the Big Ten’s top marksmen from long-range, boasting the No. 10 three-point percentage in the Big Ten.