No. 11 Wisconsin (17-4, 8-3) vs. Penn State (9-9, 4-6)

Game: Saturday, Feb. 5 inside the Kohl Center

Time: 5:00 PM CT

Watch: BTN (Dave Revsine and Stephen Bardo)

Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio

Prediction: Wisconsin 71, Penn State 64

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

No. 11 Wisconsin returns home against Penn State on Saturday afternoon. The Badgers come in winners of 15 of the last 16 meetings in the series.

The Nittany Lions are coming off a double-overtime victory at home over Iowa, a win that snapped a three-game losing streak. Today's matchup will be Penn State's fourth road game in its last five contests.

Greg Gard and his staff will have had to scout a much different lineup from last season. Under first-year head coach Micah Strawberry, Penn State's program lost six players, including four starters, two of which were its top scorers a season ago. Jamari Wheeler (Ohio State), Myreon Jones (Florida) and Izaiah Brockington (Iowa State) are all now playing key roles for their respective teams.

Despite losing much of his core, Strawberry saw the return of forward John Harrar, who opted to come back after he originally entered the transfer portal. Harrar is a physical part of Penn State's offense in setting screens, dribble handoffs and a scorer in the post. The senior big is coming off a career-high 19-point outing against Iowa and is averaging nearly a double double on the year (10.8 ppg and 9.6 rpg).

Surrounding Harrar is a guard-heavy lineup. The Nittany Lions have four players scoring in double figures, three of which are guards. Senior transfer Jalen Pickett has added a scoring pop. Pickett has averaged 15.7 points per contest in Big Ten games.

Alongside Pickett, Seth Lundy and Sam Sessoms have been key contributors on the offensive end. Sessoms, the Nittany Lions’ sixth man, is the team's third leading scorer (11.6 ppg) and is shooting 43 percent from three. Lundy tallied 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in a victory over Iowa. The 6-foot-6 junior has been tasked with guarding the likes of Ron Harper Jr., Jaden Ivey and EJ Liddell, and will likely draw the assignment of Johnny Davis.

Davis will look to get back on track this afternoon after a difficult shooting night against Illinois. The sophomore managed to put together a 22-point outing but had most of his work come off offensive rebounds and at the line (11-14 on FTs). Davis shot just 5-19 and 1-5 from three.

Coming off the bench, Lorne Bowman may have carved out a larger role for himself after his performance against the Illini. The staff trusted Bowman in a big road game and had him on the floor for a career-high 15 minutes. Bowman totaled seven points - just short of his career-high. With a group that lacks self creation and scoring outside of the top three, the freshman guard can be key for the Badgers when Davis, Tyler Wahl or Brad Davison takes a breather. Bowman put together a five-point burst in the middle of the second half against Illinois to bring Wisconsin within six.

Saturday's matchup will be the 52nd all-time meeting between the two programs with Wisconsin leading the series, 40-11. UW has dominated as of late, having won 15 of the last 16 and 28 of the last 31 meetings. A win would allow Wisconsin to remain in a tie for second in the conference ahead of a date in East Lansing against first place Michigan State.

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