Penn State Nittany Lions at Wisconsin Badgers

Badgers shut down Penn State in second half in blowout

Somebody got through to the Badgers, though Gard suspects his senior-laden lineup played a role in delivering that message at halftime as No. 15 Wisconsin shut down Penn State in the second half on its way to an 82-55 victory.

"They do a very good job of addressing the right issues among themselves," Gard said. "I probably didn't say anything new they hadn't heard from a teammate before I went in there."

Gard and his players said it was simply a matter of shoring up their transition defense.

But things went downhill quickly in the second half as they opened 4 for 18 from the field. One sequence seemed to sum up Penn State's struggles. Mike Watkins could not convert an alley-oop pass, and the Nittany Lions gathered the offensive rebound. But Shep Garner, who was 3 of 3 from behind the arc in the first half, air balled a long 3 attempt out of bounds.

The rout was soon on.

Vitto Brown, who finished with 16 points, said the Badgers gave up some easy baskets early, which built the Lions' confidence as they started to hit from the outside.

Bronson Koenig scored 20 points to lead the Badgers, while Ethan Happ added 14 points and eight rebounds.

"There was nothing we could really do about that," Brown said of some contested 3s the Lions hit in the first half. "But that's why we wanted to cut off those easy baskets in the second half."

Payton Banks and Tony Carr led the Nittany Lions with 12 points apiece.

"We need to learn how to respond to runs by great teams," Chambers said. "I don't think we responded like we normally have."

BIG PICTURE

Penn State: After beating Minnesota and losing a heartbreaker to Indiana, the Nittany Lions have lost by more than 20 points in consecutive road games to ranked teams.

Wisconsin: The Badgers have won 13 of 14, the only blip in the streak a 66-55 loss at Purdue.

HAPP ON TRACK

The Badgers started to shake off the Nittany Lions after Happ came alive. He struggled in the first half, shooting 2 of 6 from the field, in part because Watkins blocked him twice in the span of about 5 minutes. But Happ scored on the Badgers' first two possessions of the second half to spark a 13-2 run that put Wisconsin up 52-38 on Brown's 3-pointer. They wouldn't be threatened the rest of the way. Happ said he was trying to be too aggressive in the first half rather than relying on his post moves. "That's kind of my game. I kind of got away from it right there," he said.

UP NEXT

Penn State: The Nittany Lions host Illinois on Saturday.

Wisconsin: The Badgers play Rutgers on Saturday in New York's Madison Square Garden.

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