Field Level Media
Jan 6, 2019
Ethan Happ scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and No. 22 Wisconsin coasted to a 71-52 win over host Penn State on Sunday night in State College, Pa.
Brad Davison added 14 points and pulled down seven boards for Wisconsin (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten), which snapped a two-game skid. Nate Reuvers also finished in double digits with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
Lamar Stevens scored 22 points on 9-for-18 shooting for the Nittany Lions, who had no other players score in double figures. Penn State (7-8, 0-4) has lost back-to-back games and three of its past four.
Penn State played without head coach Patrick Chambers, who served a one-game suspension for shoving freshman Myles Dread during a timeout three nights earlier. Chambers apologized to Dread and his family for the incident and accepted the suspension announced by Nittany Lions athletic director Sandy Barbour.
Dread played 27 minutes versus Wisconsin, finishing with nine points on 3-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
Wisconsin put the game out of reach with a 10-0 run to open the second half. Nate Reuvers punctuated the run with a layup that gave the Badgers a 20-point lead with 17:14 remaining.
Penn State never came closer than 15 points of the lead the rest of the way.
The Badgers built a 33-23 lead at the half.
Wisconsin led by as many as 15 points in the first half after Happ made a hook shot to make it 31-16 with 3:15 remaining. But Penn State battled back with a 7-0 run fueled by a 3-pointer from Dread and back-to-back driving layups from Stevens and Rasir Bolton to reduce the deficit to single digits.
Penn State will have Chambers back on the sidelines when it visits No. 24 Nebraska on Thursday night. Meanwhile, Wisconsin will return home to host Purdue on Friday night.
The Badgers and Nittany Lions are scheduled to meet for the second and final time of the regular season on March 2 in Madison, Wis.
--Field Level Media