Stop me if you’ve heard this before: It was a tale of two halves for the Badgers.
In perfect ‘90s day form, the Wisconsin Badgers (12-6 Big Ten, 20-9 overall) turned from Boyz II Men in the second half, coupling an offensive surge with a stifling defensive performance to take down the Penn State Nittany Lions (5-13,12-17) 61-57 on Saturday afternoon.
Penn State got multiple chances to tie the game after sophomore guard D’Mitrik Trice buried two free throws to extend UW’s lead to 59-56 with 50 seconds remaining.
Leading 59-57 with nine seconds remaining, Khalil Iverson forced a crucial Penn State turnover, deflecting a poor Rasir Bolton pass out of bounds, which was ruled Wisconsin ball after review. After Nate Reuvers split a pair of free throws, Bolton committed another turnover, losing the ball out of bounds on a play Penn State head coach Pat Chambers was certain was a foul.
On an afternoon where Wisconsin honored Otto Puls, who has been UW’s official scorer for the past 55 years, junior guard Brevin Pritzl made sure to keep the scoreboard churning, scoring a team-high 17 points on perfect five-of-five shooting. The redshirt junior brought the Kohl Center to its feet after drilling his fourth three-pointer of the day with 10 minutes and 47 seconds remaining in the game.
“I was just feeding off everyone else,” Pritzl said. “Ethan got me going in the first half, and then I kind of just followed Brad [Davison]. Every time Brad drove my guy was looking to help, so I kind of just snuck around, hit the open spots, hit the open shots.”
Pritzl and freshman guard Kobe King combined to score all 26 of UW’s bench points, keeping the Badgers in the game in the first half while Ethan Happ struggled. Happ missed his first six attempts from the field, not scoring until just under six minutes left in the first half. Wisconsin’s backcourt certainly didn’t help the cause, as Davison and Trice combined to score just 12 points on three of 14 shooting.
“I think the trust that the staff has in them for longer stretches has grown,” head coach Greg Gard said of Pritzl and King. “They gave us an offensive punch. You like to have scorers off the bench, but it’s not always all about scoring. But both guys have taken steps defensively through the year where we can trust them on the floor, sometimes where I see their tongue hanging out and I have to give them a break.”
For the eighth time this season, the Badgers turned a halftime deficit into a win. Following what Pritzl called an “animated” halftime talk from Greg Gard, the Badgers tightened up defensively, holding Penn State to just 24 percent from the field in the second half.
Happ making both his free throws to open the second half was a sign of what was to come as he scored Wisconsin’s first six points after the break. After his cold start, Happ recovered to make five of his next six shots, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
As Happ found more success in the paint, he opened up more space for his teammates. With just under 13 minutes remaining, Happ spun out of a double team and found Pritzl in the far corner for three. Happ then stole the ball from Lamar Stevens and found a soaring King on a fast-break to give the Badgers their first lead in almost 25 minutes of play. Wisconsin never trailed again, scoring 35 of their 61 points in the second half.
“It’s nice to have the teammates that I do, that believe in me 100 percent,” Happ said. “Even when I was struggling in the beginning, they’re telling me they have my back and believe in my abilities. I just kind of stayed the course, and believed that eventually it would come.”
The Badgers earned an important 20th win and 12th win in the Big Ten, staying within striking distance of a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament. Perhaps more importantly, the Badgers proved they can grind out wins despite Davison and Trice’s shooting struggles.
Wisconsin hosts Iowa on Thursday for senior night.
