Quick Hits: Wisconsin hangs on during 51-49 victory over Penn State

MADISON, WIS. -- An ugly first 20 minutes by No. 11 Wisconsin and Penn State turned into quite the competitive contest in the second half. Ultimately, the Badgers came away with a 51-49 win inside the Kohl Center on Saturday night.

UW (18-4 overall, 9-3 Big Ten) saw three Badgers score in double figures, but that did not include sophomore sensation Johnny Davis. Forward Steven Crowl led the way for Wisconsin with a team-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 3-of-5 from three-point range. The sophomore also grabbed four rebounds and dished out a career-high five assists. Junior forward Tyler Wahl recorded 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds, while true freshman guard Chucky Hepburn dropped 10 points.

UW shot 37.5% overall, and its cold streak from deep continued -- hitting only six of 21 opportunities from behind the arc. Davis finished with four points on 2-of-13 shooting -- the first time he has been held under double digits this season. However, the player of the year candidate recorded nine rebounds in the close win.

Penn State (9-10, 4-7) kept it close even with an extensive scoring drought in the first half. It finished the game shooting 31.6% (18 of 57) overall, 30% (nine of 30) from three-point range. Guard Sam Sessoms led the way for the Nittany Lions with 14 points off the bench. He hit on five of nine shots on the night, but no one player scored more than eight points for Micah Shrewsberry's program.

Wisconsin led by as much as seven points in the opening five minutes of the second half, but Penn State clawed back to take the lead at 35-34 with 9:13 to play after a Sessoms three-pointer. The guard scored eight straight points in a 1:27 stretch between the 9:53 to 8:26 marks. A Greg Lee triple, his second of the second half, gave the Nittany Lions a four-point lead with 7:32 left in regulation.

Davis did not score a bucket until 10:16 remaining in the contest, and his jumper about three minutes later helped kickstart a 13-0 run by the Badgers to take a 49-40 lead with under four minutes to play. Crowl drilled two three-pointers in that timeframe, while senior guard Brad Davison -- who finished with nine points on 3-of-10 shooting -- scored five of those points during that particular streak.

However, Penn State countered with a 9-0 streak of its own to tie the game at 49-49 with about 51 seconds to play. Four points came from guard Myles Dread in that stretch.

Wahl gave Wisconsin a two-point lead via layup with about 30 seconds left, and UW eventually held on Penn State's final possession to come away with a win.

Wisconsin led Penn State by a 18-13 margin at halftime. The Badgers entered the locker room at intermission shooting 25.8% (8-of-31) from the field, connecting on just one three-pointer in 10 attempts. The Nittany Lions went over 10 minutes in scoring a basket, hitting on 5-of-30 (16.7%) field goal attempts while committing eight turnovers. However, Greg Gard's program could not capitalize in extending the lead further than 12 points before halftime.

Hepburn and Wahl combined for 13 of UW's 18 points. Penn State held Davis scoreless in that frame, though the La Crosse, Wis., native reeled in six rebounds in the first half.

What it means: Wisconsin moves into a tie for second place with No. 4 Purdue in the Big Ten standings. No. 18 Illinois (10-2) sits atop the conference, while No. 13 Michigan State dropped to 8-3 earlier on Saturday. Penn State ranked No. 82 in KenPom standings and No. 89 in the NCAA NET rankings.

Star of the game: Let's go with Crowl and Hepburn. The big man rebounded with his 13 points, four rebounds, and five assists. All three of his three-pointers came in the second half, and he scored 11 of his 13 points in the final 20 minutes.

Hepburn scored seven of his 10 points in the first half, draining three of five shots.

Stat of the game: Penn State suffered through a 10:24 scoring drought in the first half. That allowed Wisconsin to push out a 14-3 lead with 7:28 remaining before intermission.

The secondary stat of the game comes from Johnny Davis and Brad Davison. Penn State held the two, who came in averaging 21.4 and 15.2 points per game, respectively, to a combined 13. The dynamic duo made only five of 23 shots.

Turning point: It could have been that first-half scoring drought for Penn State, but Wisconsin's poor shooting in those initial 20 minutes could not tame the Nittany Lions into a deeper deficit.

However, a 19-8 Penn State run in the second half turned into a 40-36 lead with 7:42 to play. UW responded with a 13-0 stretch, which PSU then countered with nine straight points to tie it at 49-49.

Long story short, Wahl's game-winning layup with under 31 seconds remaining was the true turning point.

Don’t overlook ... the fact UW pulled out a win against a stingy Penn State program — that defeated Iowa in two overtimes earlier this week — without its top two scorers hitting double-digits individually. Davison and Davis combined to shoot 21.7% from the field. Crowl, Wahl and Hepburn emerging at different times is a promising sign.

What’s next: Wisconsin heads to East Lansing to take on Michigan State on Tuesday, which fell inside the RAC to Rutgers on Saturday afternoon with a 84-63 road loss. The Badgers look to avenge their 86-74 loss to Tom Izzo and the Spartans in the Kohl Center on Jan. 21.

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