1/23/2017 basketball Edit

Badgers facing quick turnaround vs. Penn State

John Veldhuis • BadgerBlitz

Senior Writer

John Veldhuis has covered Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network since 2012.

The No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers (16-3, 5-1 Big Ten) have to overcome a quick turnaround after their 78-76 overtime win over Minnesota (15-5, 3-4) on Saturday. The Badgers are set to host Penn State (11-9, 3-4) on Tuesday at the Kohl Center, their second game in a row against a team that has taken a step forward from last season.

The challenge for the Badgers will be to keep their edge against the Nitty Lions on just two days of rest, not to mention having to go to overtime to pull out their sixth-straight win over the Gophers. To do that UW head coach Greg Gard said he tried to give his older players a bit of a break to get their legs back, which also doubles as a chance to help develop the younger players on the roster that need more reps.

“We did practice last night but (for) heavier minute guys it was pretty light and not a lot of contact possessions,” Gard said Monday at his weekly press conference. “We’ll go back in to it a little more today. That’s the nice thing about having that experience – they don’t necessarily need as much (time) on the floor as what younger guys do so it gives us a chance to not only get the younger guys some reps against Penn State action, but also we took those 12 non-starters and did a 10-minute scrimmage last night. It was beneficial for both.”

The Badgers will need to be rested up for a Penn State team that has given them trouble in the past, too. The Badgers led by as many as 17 points in the second half of their 66-60 win over the Nittany Lions during their trip to State College last year, but a second-half surge by Brandon Taylor helped the Nittany Lions close to within 3 points of tying the game with less than a minute left.

But while the Lions don’t have Taylor around anymore to power their offense, they are scoring more points per game this year (71.8) than last year (65.8), with three of last year’s five starters back for another season and a few new players helping the Nittany Lions in their first year of eligibility.

Junior guard Shep Garner is leading the Nittany Lions with 12.3 points per game this season, with junior forward Payton Banks right behind him in averaging 11.7 points per game. The two combined to score 21 points against UW in their game last year, with Banks doing damage from behind the arc (he made three of his four 3-point shots and is shooting 38.8 percent from behind the line this year), and Garner making all 6 of his free throw attempts.

True freshmen Lamar Stevens (11.6 points per game) and Tony Carr (11.4 points per game) are also contributing right away, and forward Mike Watkins has chipped in 9.8 points per game in his first year on the court after redshirting last year. It all adds up to a balanced offensive attack for the Nittany Lions, who have already beaten two Big Ten teams ranked ahead of them in KenPom.com’s team rankings.

But Penn State’s step forward doesn’t surprise Gard, who said he knew they had some young talent that was ready to help them right away.

“(They have) two true freshmen in Stevens and Carr that are very good players,” Gard said Monday. “Having watched them in AAU, I knew they were going to immediately help them.

“I think the overall talent level is up. They’ve got some guys that have some experience from the previous years, and they’re playing better together … now it’s five guys almost averaging in double figures. (They’ve) just improved all the way around.”

John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball, and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter @JohnVeldhuis.