STAT PACK: Wisconsin Hangs Out to Knock Off Penn State, 75-74, in BTT

It’s amazing what happens when shots start to fall for the University of Wisconsin. A group that said this week it was energized by its clean slate and fresh record, the sixth-seeded Badgers relied on the 3-point shot and some defense to march on.

Wisconsin connected on 12 3-pointers during Friday’s nightcap but needed a big defensive stand on its final defensive possession to escape with a 75-74 victory over 11th-seed Penn State at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.

All eight rotation players scored for Wisconsin (17-11) and got a season-high 17 points from senior Aleem Ford, who hit a career-high five 3-pointers after making a combined five in his previous five games.

In the five previous tournament games, teams were a combined 56-of-217 from 3-point range (25.8 percent). After a slow start, Wisconsin hit 11 of its final 18 attempts from beyond the arc. UW led by as many as 18 points in the second half but saw Penn State (11-14) go on a 17-2 run over the final five minutes to make UW sweat until the final second.

The victory sets up the Badgers getting a third crack at No.5 Iowa. The fourth seed in the conference tournament beat the Badgers, 77-62, in Madison on February 18 and 77-73 last Sunday in Iowa City.

We take a closer look at the game in the BadgerBlitz Stat Pack

- Wisconsin broke its season-high three game losing streak with Ford tying his career high with five 3-pointers. Brad Davison added 15 points for his third straight game in double figures, as well as adding five assists and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. Jonathan Davis was the final UW scorer in double figures with 10 points.

- Tyler Wahl scored eight points and added a game-high five rebounds. Nate Reuvers – pressed into heavier minutes because of Micah Potter dealing with cramps – had eight points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. D’Mitrik Trice went 2-for-8 from the floor but tied his career high with nine assists.

- UW’s finished 46.3 percent (25-for-54) overall and 12-for-23 from 3-point range, a 52.2 shooting percentage that was its highest this season against a Big Ten team. UW also went 13-for-15 from the free throw line.

- Sam Sessoms led Penn State with 18 points (7-for-11), as the Nittany Lions shot 48.3 percent from the field.

- UW was outrebounded (34-25) and outscored in the paint (36-24), but the Badgers had 18 assists on 25 made field goals.

-Playing in the cavernous Lucas Oil Stadium, both teams needed time to adjust. At the first media timeout, both teams had five points and were shooting 2-for-7 from the floor.

- The Nittany Lions led by as many as four points through the first 10 minutes because the Nittany Lions were able to get out and run. PSU scored seven of its first 11 points on the fast break. It was reminiscent to UW’s loss in State College where Penn State outscored Wisconsin, 21-3, on the fast break.

- Wisconsin struggled again with its offense but the problems were around the rim. The Badgers started 5-for-20 but were 4-for-15 on two-point shots and 2-for-7 on layups.

- The one thing that has saved Wisconsin is its ability to get to the free throw line and convert. UW started 11-for-11 from the foul line. When UW went on a 12-2 scoring run to retake the lead with four minutes remaining, the Badgers were 4-for-4 from the line. Other good news was 3-pointers by struggling shooters Davison and Reuvers.

- Trice’s dribble penetration led to a kickout to Ford, who buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave Wisconsin a 41-31 lead heading into the locker room. Down as many as eight points in the first half, the Badgers closed on an 18-3 run by hitting six of their final seven shots.

- Not wanting to let halftime ruin momentum, the Badgers came out clicking with an 8-2 run that ballooned the lead to 16 with 17:23 remaining that forced a timeout. Davison was responsible with six of those points with two 3-pointers.

- The Nittany Lions – who erased a 14-point halftime lead in Wednesday’s first round – cut the lead to 10 but Ford built back better. Just 5-for-23 from 3-point range over his past five games, Ford hit back-to-back 3-pointers to have him start a perfect 4-for-4 from the perimeter. Penn State was forced to burn another timeout when trailing by a game-high 17.

- Davis delivered a pair of big possessions, hitting a 3-pointer and slashing to the lane by splitting the defense for a one-handed slam to put Wisconsin up 18 with 8:52 remaining.

- The Nittany Lions didn’t fold and put forth a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 11 with 6:25 remaining.

- After building the lead back up to 16, Penn State went on a 13-2 run to cut the lead to 75-70 with 1:46 remaining.

- Pressured near half court, Trice tried to force a pass that caused a loose ball foul on Jonathan Davis with 1:22. That led to two more made free throws from Penn State which cut the lead to three. With his teammates standing around watching, Trice’s shot was blocked out of bounds going up for a layup and Reuvers traveled on the inbounds after losing his footing.

- Sessoms drove hard to the rim and finished the layup with 46.2 seconds remaining, driving around Reuvers and Trice with his right hand to cut the deficit to one. The basket marked a 17-2 run for Penn State in which the Nittany Lions made six of their seven shots.

- Penn State had a chance to win after Davis was blocked at the rim, but Reuvers blocked Sessoms on a drive to the rim and Davison corralled the loose ball and called timeout with .8 seconds remaining. UW was able to run out the rest of the clock from there.