Freshman forward Ethan Happ scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Wisconsin delivered a 66-60 victory over Penn State on Thursday in Big Ten play at State College, Pa.

Junior forward Nigel Hayes added 15 points for the Badgers, who had to sweat out the final seven minutes. Guard Alex Illikainen contributed nine points and seven rebounds as Wisconsin (11-9, 3-4) defeated the Nittany Lions for the eighth consecutive time.

Senior forward Brandon Taylor scored 13 points and sophomore forward Payton Banks added 11 for Penn State (11-9, 2-5). Senior guard Devin Foster and sophomore guard Shep Garner added 10 points apiece, and sophomore forward Julian Moore collected a career-best 10 rebounds for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State made a spirited push over the final seven-plus minutes and pulled within 63-60 on a 3-pointer by Foster with 31 seconds left. Happ made three of four free-throw attempts over the final 26 seconds to seal it for the Badgers.

Penn State trimmed a 17-point, second-half deficit down to 10 before Wisconsin recovered with an 8-1 burst to take a 49-32 lead with 7:05 left. The Nittany Lions made another charge to get back into the game as Banks drained two 3-pointers during a 15-3 spurt, and Penn State moved within 52-47 with 3:16 left.

Wisconsin led by only four points late in the first half before scoring 10 straight points to open up a 14-point lead. Illikainen drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the first half for a 27-18 edge at the break, and a dunk by junior forward Vitto Brown capped the splurge with 18:40 left in the contest.

A jumper by freshman forward Charlie Thomas gave the Badgers a 40-23 advantage with 13:27 to play. The Nittany Lions displayed life over the two-plus minutes with an 8-1 run to pull within 41-31 on a layup by freshman forward Deividas Zemgulis.