After a sloppy first 20 minutes for both squads, Wisconsin basketball took control and cruised to a 72-56 win over Penn State. The No. 19 Badgers (14-5, 8-4) responded after falling to the Nittany Lions (6-8, 3-7) on Saturday to split the season series.
The first half was unorthodoxly sloppy from Wisconsin, who turned the basketball over 11 times in 20 minutes. A large number of those giveaways were of the unforced variety. Despite the issues taking care of the rock, the Badgers defense was night and day different compared to a large portion of the Saturday loss. Penn State was held to 3-11 from three in the first half, and Wisconsin went inside early to build a 34-31 lead.
The second half was lockdown defense and the Johnny Davis show. The true freshman came in with four made threes on the season. Tonight, he finished with four threes alone including 3-3 in the second half. The freshman had a career-high 17 points while finding the jumper that has eluded him over the past few weeks.
Wisconsin’s defense looked like a completely different unit than the one in Happy Valley. The Badgers locked down on the perimeter, forcing miss after miss from the outside. Penn State shot just 8-24 from three, including an abysmal 3-13 in the second half.
Perhaps the most surprising number of all in a double digit Wisconsin win? Leading scorer D’Mitrik Trice didn’t score a point. It’s telling of just how deep this Badger team is at it’s best, with multiple contributors able to lead them on a nightly basis.
Wisconsin moves to 8-4 on the Big Ten year with the win, with a road clash at No. 12 Illinois looming on Saturday.