Dominating the Rivalry: Wisconsin Basketball vs. Penn State

The hiring of then-Milwaukee head coach Bo Ryan yielded little fanfare outside the city of Madison.

Other than an improbable run to the Final Four in 2000, there had been few bright spots since the Badgers hung their 1947 Big Ten championship banner. Not only were there no Big Ten titles over that 54-year stretch, but Wisconsin also had four times as many losing seasons (32) as top-four finishes in the league (eight). There were just four NCAA tournament appearances, including 47 straight seasons without one.

So, when Dick Bennett abruptly retired in November 2000, he took with him some of the excitement as the Badgers stumbled to a 13-loss season and a first-round upset. Ryan and associate head coach Greg Gard didn’t wait long to change the culture.

Winning back-to-back Big Ten titles in their first two seasons, the Badgers have been dominant in winning 71.1 percent of its games during Ryan’s 14 seasons as head coach and in the last six-plus seasons under Gard (500-203 through Jan.30). UW has won eight Big Ten titles, appeared in 18 of the last 19 NCAA tournaments, and advanced to two Final Fours.

Since Ryan and Gard arrived, Wisconsin has the most Big Ten wins and the best winning percentage in the conference at 249-115 (.684) and has flipped many conference rivalries that had long been one-sided affairs.

Over the course of this Big Ten season, BadgerBlitz will examine Wisconsin’s series with the 13 other conference teams, what it was before Ryan and Gard arrived, what the series looks like now, and some memorable moments along the way.

Today, we look at Wisconsin’s series with Penn State.

RELATED: Iowa | Maryland | Ohio State | Northwestern | Michigan State | Nebraska |

Pre 2001-02: Wisconsin led 11-6

Since 2001-02: Wisconsin leads 30-5

Ryan’s Record vs. Penn State: 22-4 (10-3 in State College, 0-1 neutral)

Gard’s Record vs. Penn State: 8-1 (4-1 in State College, 1-0 neutral)

Record when both teams were ranked: Ryan 0-0; Gard 0-0

When Wisconsin was ranked, Penn State was not: Ryan 16-2, Gard 4-1

When Penn State was ranked, Wisconsin was not: Ryan 0-0, Gard 1-0

When both teams were unranked: Ryan 6-2, Gard 0-0

Unlike the series with Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Rutgers, the Badgers had never faced Penn State prior to the Nittany Lions joining the Big Ten for the 1992-93 season. The early games were back-and-forth, as the two programs split their first eight meetings, but a four-game win streak from March 1996-January 1998 has put the Badgers firmly ahead in the series.

Penn State was the first opponent Wisconsin faced in the inaugural Big Ten Tournament and the second game of the session turned out to be a memorable one, as freshman forward Maurice Linton hit a jumper with 3.7 seconds left to advance the 10th-seeded Badgers with a 52-51 win.

Under Ryan: Of all the Big Ten teams more than 10 times, there’s nobody he routinely beat more than Penn State or had a better winning percentage against (84.6). Ryan never lost to the Nittany Lions at the Kohl Center (12-0), won 12 consecutive in the series from 2004 to 2010, nine straight from 2012 until his retirement, and won the 22 games by an average of 15.4 points. On the rare instances when UW did lose, the four losses were by a total of 10 points, including the brutal 36-33 loss in the 2011 Big Ten tournament that set the sport back a couple of decades.

Under Gard: UW didn’t miss a beat against Penn State with its new head coach. Wisconsin won the first six meetings under Gard, including three by two possessions or less and on his first four trips to State College to run the Badgers’ win streak to 13 games. It took COVID last season and a horrid defensive performance in the second half to end the streak. UW recovered to win the final two meetings last season, beating the Nittany Lions by 16 three days after the loss and in the conference tournament quarterfinals.

Overall, Ryan/Gard went 2-2 against Jerry Dunn, 13-2 against Ed DeChellis, 13-0 against Pat Chambers, and 2-1 against Jim Ferry.

“The key to beating them was getting to the free-throw line. They just played right into our hands because they fouled a lot. Some teams don’t run enough offense to get them to foul; we do.”

- Former Wisconsin assistant coach Gary Close. His analysis was spot on. In the final eight games Close was on staff at UW (2012-16), the Badgers outscored Penn State from the foul line every game and by an average of 15.8-to-8.4. The attempts were even greater, with UW averaging 22.4 attempts to 12.3 for the Nittany Lions.

Wisconsin clinched at least a share of the 2008 Big Ten regular-season championship by dismantling Penn State in the home finale, causing the students to rush the floor and hoist players on their shoulders. As exciting as that moment was, it lacked the suspense that the 2013 season finale did in State College.

That game also involved a court rush, as the Wisconsin bench charged the floor to mob point guard Traevon Jackson after his 3-point buzzer-beater gave the Badgers a 63-60 victory.

“I think they were kind of waiting for me to trap or something,” Jackson said. “They kind of let me dribble to that spot. I knew if I could get to that spot, I could get a shot off. I just followed through and let it go in.”

Back-to-back losses to Purdue and at No.10 Michigan State dropped Wisconsin out of the Big Ten title race, and the Badgers were in danger of losing to the conference’s last-place team after Penn State’s D.J. Newbill hit a jumper with five seconds left to tie the game.

Miscommunication nearly caused Wisconsin to throw the ensuing inbounds pass away, but the Badgers had the possession arrow for another chance to avoid overtime.

Making a clean catch on the next inbounds, Jackson avoided Penn State’s press, sprinted past the defenders down the left sideline to his spot on the left wing, and took aim. The left-handed Jackson didn’t miss.

“We can't get a better shot like that on an out-of-bounds play,” Ryan said. “He knew and there was no hesitation. Also, he is left-handed. That was the advantage … We just did 25 to 30 of those same situations (in practice) about a week ago. Now the ball still has to go in. It's a tough shot ... but they know the drill.”

The momentum helped the Badgers, as Wisconsin built on the Penn State win by knocking off two top-10 teams in the Big Ten Tournament later that week before falling in the tournament final to another top-10 team (Ohio State).

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