Penn State upsets No.11 Wisconsin 87-83
Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades picked up his first signature victory as the Nittany Lions head coach on Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions upset the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers 87-83 to give the Badgers their first loss in Big Ten play this season.
The win improves Penn State's record to 9-9 on the season and 3-4 in Big Ten play while Wisconsin drops to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten.
After being overmatched by the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday, the Nittany Lions came out on Tuesday ready to go and nearly went wire-to-wire to defeat the Badgers, leading for all but 17 seconds in the game.
Kanye Clary and Ace Baldwin led the way for the Nittany Lions with 27 and 20 points respectively.
Both players took over in the second half of the game with 32 combined points, Kanye Clary being unstoppable with 19 points while Ace Baldwin contributed 13 points in the final 20 minutes.
In Tuesday's game, the Nittany Lions got off to a strong start, taking advantage of a cold shooting hand from Wisconsin to take a 12-2 lead within the first five minutes of action. Wisconsin would look to claw their way back, getting within a basket of the Nittany Lions another strong few minutes of play would allow the Nittany Lions to re-extend their lead to 10 at 29-19 with just under seven minutes to go in the first half.
As one would expect out of a top-15 program, Wisconsin wouldn't surrender or go quietly into halftime and was able to get the Nittany Lions' lead down to just 39-35 prior to halftime.
The Badgers picked up where they left to begin the second half hitting four of their first six shots from the floor for the half. For the second half as a whole, the Badgers shot 50.0% from the floor. Mike Rhoades, however, had his squad ready for those punches as the two sides would go toe-for-toe, both totaling 48 points in the second. The Nittany Lions made 17-of-28 attempts in the second half including Kanye Clary and Ace Baldwin combing to go 12-of-17.
With under seven minutes to play, Wisconsin orchestrated their best run of the game, outscoring the Nittany Lions 8-0 over a nearly three-minute span that flipped a 68-62 Penn State lead into a 70-68 lead for Wisconsin.
It's been these situations that have posed challenges for the Nittany Lions, and their struggles to bounce back from adversity have been evident in previous losses this season. However, on Tuesday, Penn State exhibited its best response to adversity all season.
Following Wisconsin's 8-0 run, the Nittany Lions countered with an impressive 8-2 run, swiftly reclaiming the lead just 17 seconds after the Badgers had taken it. Although Wisconsin managed to tie the game shortly afterward, a Qudus Wahab dunk with 3:37 remaining gave the Nittany Lions a 74-72 lead and they would never look back.
"I thought we had great resolved today," Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades said about his team and their handling of adversity on Tuesday during the Penn State men's basketball radio postgame show. "Today, these guys responded."
Notable stats
- Despite the win, Penn State was outrebounded in the game 36-25 as the Nittany Lions' lack of size continues to be a problem.
- Penn State was able to force 13 Wisconsin turnovers, turning them into 16 points. The Nittany Lions had just six turnovers of their own in the win.
- The Nittany Lions shot 8-of-20 from three-point range in the game including Nick Kern going 4-for-7 in the game from deep. He had 15 points in the win and was the Nittany Lions' unsung hero.
UP NEXT
Penn State will have a couple of days offer be traveling to Columbus on Saturday for a matchup up against Ohio State. Tip-off for that matchup at Value City Arena is set for 12:00 p.m. and will be televised on BTN.
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