Steven Crowl scored 13 points and Tyler Wahl added 12 as No. 11 Wisconsin escaped with a 51-49 victory when visiting Penn State missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds in a Big Ten Conference game Saturday in Madison.
Wahl's lay-in put Wisconsin up 51-49 with 31 seconds left. The Badgers had fouls to give, the last with 6 seconds left. Penn State in-bounded from the left side, but Myles Dread's 3-point attempt from the top bounced off the rim and Wahl corralled the rebound.
Wisconsin (18-4, 9-3 Big Ten) extended its home winning streak against Penn State to 21 games dating to 1995.
The Badgers' top two scorers, Johnny Davis and Brad Davison, were scoreless until Davison hit a pair of free throws with 13:20 left. They finished with a combined 13 points on 5-of-23 shooting. Davis had a season-low four points on 2-of-13 shooting with a team-high nine rebounds.
Sam Sessoms had 14 points for Penn State (9-10, 4-7).
Wisconsin, which led by five after a lackluster first half, used a 13-point run to regain the lead, going in front 49-40 on Davison's 3-pointer with 3:44 left.
Penn State rallied with nine straight points, tying it on Dread's layup with 51 seconds remaining.
The Nittany Lions, who had just five first-half field goals, pulled within 23-21 early in the second half on consecutive 3-pointers by Dallion Johnson. Greg Lee's 3-pointer put Penn State in front 40-36 with 7:42 remaining.
Wisconsin staggered to an 18-13 lead in a first half reminiscent of the peach basket era as the teams shot a combined 13 for 61.
Penn State hit just one of its first 20 shots, including 1 of 11 from long range, and went almost 10 1/2 minutes without scoring after its initial 3-pointer. The Nittany Lions finished 5 of 30 in the half.
Chucky Hepburn's 3-pointer gave the Badgers their biggest lead of the half at 17-5. The Nittany Lions did not hit double figures until John Harrar's two free throws with 1:21 remaining.
Wisconsin was 8 of 31 in the first half, including 1-for-10 from deep. The Badgers were 3 of 24 from 3-point range in a loss at No. 18 Illinois on Wednesday.
--Field Level Media
Penn St. | Wisconsin | |
Sam Sessoms 14 | Scoring | Steven Crowl 13 |
Jalen Pickett 3 | Assists | Steven Crowl 5 |
John Harrar 9 | Rebounds | Jonathan Davis 9 |
John Harrar 2 | Free Throws Made | Brad Davison 2 |
Myles Dread 3 | Steals | Steven Crowl 1 |
Jalen Pickett 2 | Blocks | Jonathan Davis 2 |