The University of Wisconsin scored 83 points on 72 possessions, made as many free throws as Penn State attempted, and put five players in double figures. All those statistics should result in the Badgers winning a lot of games. Unfortunately, UW’s defense Tuesday night made sure it didn’t push its winning streak any farther.

No.11 Wisconsin was caught flat-footed at the onset and could never fully grasp momentum due to a porous defensive effort that led to an 87-83 defeat to the Nittany Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

Here are my takeaways from UW’s first conference loss of the season.

Even as Wisconsin put up some eye-popping numbers from a scoring and efficiency standpoint, there was the underlying tone that the Badgers’ defense had some cracks in their foundation.

UW’s last four games saw its opponents hover around a point per possession and average just under 67 points per game. The dam finally broke against Penn State. The Nittany Lions bludgeoned the Badgers’ defense, scoring 1.26 points per possession and shooting 60.7 percent in the second half.

“We hadn’t been exposed in a while,” UW coach Greg Gard said. “We got exposed tonight.”

Nobody undressed Wisconsin more than guards Kayne Clary and Ace Baldwin. The pair combined to shoot 58.1 percent (18-for-31), score 47 points, register seven rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and commit only two turnovers.

Penn State scored on 67.1 percent of its 34 second-half possessions and averaged 1.4 points in the half, as the Nittany Lions countered every punch Wisconsin threw at them with one of its own.

Starting with A.J. Storr tying the game at 41 with 17:21 remaining, the Badgers tied the score or cut the lead to one seven times over the next five minutes. Penn State scored on the next possession on six of them, with the PSU guard duo scoring 11 points with dribble drives, mid-range jumpers, or three-point makes.

The only time Penn State failed to score; the Nittany Lions forced a Storr turnover that led to a three-point jumper from – you guessed it – Baldwin.

The problems defensively were evident in the game’s first eight possessions.

The Badgers were flat out of the gate, dug themselves a 12-2 hole through the first eight possessions, and spent the rest of the half trying to climb uphill. On that stretch, UW was 1-for-6 from the field, outrebounded (5-0), and committed three turnovers with two traveling violations.

Baldwin said their team’s scouting report was to make Wisconsin uncomfortable, which they clearly did.

“They got us on our heels right from the beginning,” Gard said. “I didn’t think we handled some of the pressure and made poor decisions early. In those situations, whether it was one-on-one, dribble penetration, or in ball screen situations, not getting the ball stopped.”

Penn State played in the paint off the dribble. Consumed with made baskets on the perimeter, UW started to extend toward the perimeter, which opened driving gaps for Balwin and Cleary.

Baldwin Jr and Cleary had 13 of Penn State’s first 16 points, with Cleary speeding off the dribble to cut through traffic for points at the rim and Baldwin having confidence in his mid-range game with makes off the dribble.

“We gave them some confidence early by playing into their hands, making life difficult on ourselves,” Gard said. “We dug ourselves a hole early.”

It didn’t help matters that Max Klesmit wasn’t on the floor. The junior who had scored 42 points in his last two games and arguably is UW’s best defender picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and sat for the half.

While he finished with 10 points and hit a three-pointer in the second half that briefly gave UW the lead, Klesmit was out of rhythm all night and fouled out after just 15 minutes on the floor.

“He’s an experienced defender, and he had been playing pretty well offensively,” Gard said of Klesmit. “It gets us out of rhythm a little bit and gets him out of rhythm … He’s got to not put himself in those positions. You can’t reach, can’t take gambles, and try to swipe at the ball if you’re not in position to do it. That puts yourself in jeopardy and you have to pay the price with the foul.”

Gard wondered aloud if there are things UW needs to recorrect, reteach, or redrill on the defensive end, especially after seeing UW foul jump shooters on at least four separate occasions.

“We’ve got a ways to go (defensively),” Gard said. “We’re not where we need to be, can be, or should be.”

UW got lifts from Steven Crowl (17 points, 11 rebounds) and John Blackwell (14, 7-for-8 FTs) after the duo had been limited offensively in recent games (Crowl under double figures in three consecutive games, Blackwell 2-for-6 the last two), but Tyler Wahl committed five turnovers, including an offensive foul on a screen with 14 seconds left in the first half and the Badgers down four.

Storr led UW with 23 points but got caught on a few positions playing too fast and frenzied for his own good, as he missed a pair of shots in the final five minutes where UW made only one field goal (a meaningless three-pointer from Storr with 0.4 seconds left).

Chucky Hepburn was held scoreless for the first time since March 20, 2022, on only four attempts, although he finished with five assists and two turnovers.

Wisconsin shot 48.3 percent overall and averaged 1.239 points per possession but started slow (1-for-6) to give Penn State momentum and ended slow (1-6) to let the Nittany Lions clinch the game.

40.0 – Penn State entered the game shooting 29.9 percent from three but started going 5-for-9 and shot 8-for-20 overall.

44.4 – Wisconsin was charted at going 8-for-18 on layups (44.4 percent), while Penn State unofficially went 13-for-22 (59.1) on those same shots.

39:43 – The amount of time the Badgers spent trailing or tied with Penn State.

87.0 – Wisconsin went 20-for-23 from the free-throw line

84.6 – Penn State – a 73.9 percent free-throw shooting team – went 11-for-13 in the second half.

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