National Basketball Association
Penn St. 36, Wisconsin 33
When: 8:50 PM ET, Friday, March 11, 2011
Where: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials:
# Tim Clougherty, # Ed Hightower, # Wally Rutecki
Attendance:
18381
By SportsDirect Inc.
Talor Battle suffered through his worst shooting game of the season, but drained a crucial 3-pointer down the stretch to provide Penn State some breathing room in a 36-33 victory over Wisconsin in an ugly Big Ten quarterfinal Friday night at Indianapolis.
Battle led the Nittany Lions (18-13) with nine points despite shooting 3 of 18, including 2 of 9 from the arc, to become the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,141 points. He came off a screen and drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing that gave Penn State a 35-30 lead with 2:22 left.
Wisconsin’s Keaton Nankivil hit a 3-pointer with a minute left to cut
the deficit to two, but Taylor’s clean look at a straightaway 3-pointer
with 10.5 seconds left bounced twice off the rim before Battle secured
the rebound.
Battle split two free throws, but Taylor’s off-balance 3-pointer from the left wing didn’t draw iron as time expired.
The Nittany Lions scored the first 14 points of the game and led by 16 in the first half, but had to hold on for a crucial win that might get them their first NCAA tournament berth in 10 years.
Penn State will meet Michigan State in the semifinals Saturday.
Jordan Taylor scored 16 points on 7-of-21 shooting and Jon Leuer added 10 on 5-of-16 shooting for Wisconsin (23-8).
Tim Frazier added eight points, seven rebounds and four assists for sixth-seeded Penn State, which held No. 13 Wisconsin to 29.4-percent shooting (15 of 51), including 2 of 21 from the arc.
Top Game Performances
Penn St. |
|
Wisconsin |
Taylor Battle 9 |
Scoring |
Jordan Taylor 16 |
Tim Frazier 4 |
Assists |
Jordan Taylor 2 |
Tim Frazier 7 |
Rebounds |
Jon Leuer 6 |
Tim Frazier 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Jordan Taylor 1 |
Jeff Brooks 1 |
Steals |
Jordan Taylor 2 |
Taylor Battle 1 |
Blocks |
Ryan Evans 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Penn St.
|
36 |
33.3 |
3-12 |
7-8 |
8 |
26 |
1 |
2 |
|
Wisconsin
|
33 |
29.4 |
2-21 |
1-3 |
6 |
25 |
2 |
4 |
|