Steven Crowl had 21 points and 11 rebounds as Wisconsin held off Penn State 63-60 on Tuesday night in Madison, Wis., snapping the Badgers’ three-game skid and extending their home winning streak over the Nittany Lions to 22 in a row.
With the Badgers up 61-60, Penn State’s Andrew Funk missed a 3-pointer with nine seconds left. Chucky Hepburn then hit two free throws to put Wisconsin in front 63-60.
The Nittany Lions inbounded from the right side with 4.7 seconds left, but Funk’s deep trey from the top of the key bounced off the bracket.
Hepburn finished with 13 points for Wisconsin (12-5, 4-3 Big Ten). Tyler Wahl, who missed the last three games with an ankle injury, had 10 points and five rebounds in 33 minutes. Freshman Connor Essegian added 10 points in his first start.
Jalen Pickett had 19 points and 12 boards for Penn State (12-6, 3-4), which has not won in Madison since a 78-67 win at the old UW Field House on Jan. 26, 1995.
Funk added 16 points and Myles Dread 11 for Penn State, which was 8 of 20 from 3-point range. The Nittany Lions tied a school record with 18 3-pointers in their previous game, an 85-66 win over Indiana.
Essegian hit a 3-pointer to put Wisconsin up 61-57, but Dread countered with a 3-pointer from the right corner to pull Penn State within one with 2:38 left.
The Nittany Lions had a chance to take the lead, but Pickett was called for an offensive foul on a drive with 53 seconds left.
Wisconsin scored the first eight points of the second half to erase a 36-30 deficit at the break.
Penn State hit 5 of 7 field goals to open a 34-27 lead with just over a minute left in the first half. The Nittany Lions shot 52 percent in the first half, making 13 of 25 shots, including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.
–Field Level Media