Wisconsin @ Penn St. preview

Wisconsin at Penn St.

Last Meeting ( Jan 11, 2020 ) Wisconsin 58, Penn St. 49

No. 14 Wisconsin will play Penn State in consecutive games starting with a matchup at University Park, Pa., on Saturday with the second game at Madison, Wis., on Tuesday.

The Badgers (13-4, 7-3 Big Ten) have won three of their last four games, including Wednesday's 61-55 win at Maryland that avenged a 70-64 loss to the Terrapins at home Dec. 28.

Penn State (5-7, 2-6) is coming off a competitive game at No. 13 Ohio State, one in which the Nittany Lions had the lead with less than two minutes remaining before losing 83-79.

Seth Lundy, who led Penn State with 26 points, hit a 3-pointer that put his team ahead 79-77 with 2:07 left but the Nittany Lions could not score the rest of the way.

Penn State is trying to persevere through a season in which its head coach Pat Chambers abruptly resigned in October.

COVID-19 has forced the postponement of three of Penn State's games including with Michigan. The Nittany Lions were originally scheduled to play the Wolverines on Wednesday but faced Ohio State instead.

"I thought our guys really came in here and competed tonight," interim head coach Jim Ferry said after the loss to Ohio State. "We really executed and got some good looks. I thought they executed a little better and they made one more play than we did. They went 20-21 from the foul line and we went 18-24. These two teams really battled, and I'm really proud of our guys."

Wisconsin post player Micah Potter said he was "ticked off" from when Maryland scored 38 points in the paint en route to defeating the Badgers last month.

Potter responded with a season-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field with 12 rebounds in Wednesday's win over the Terrapins.

"I was ticked off from the last game," Potter said. "I knew that couldn't happen ever again. It was just one of those things. I didn't play well, and it ticked me off, so I was just ready to go today."

Maryland managed only 20 points in the paint in Wednesday's game, and Wisconsin's interior defense forced the Terrapins into 30 attempts beyond the arc (they made nine).

"It was one of those things where you learn from your mistakes," said Potter, who leads Wisconsin with 6.8 rebounds a game while averaging 12.7 points. "I was able to learn from it and prove it on the floor."

Potter is one of four Wisconsin players who has started all 17 games. Trice D'Mitrik is another who leads the Badgers with 14.5 points and 3.9 assists per game.

Penn State also has four players who have started every one of its 12 games, and Lundy has started 11 of them.

Myreon Jones (15.4 points a game) and Izaiah Brockington (15.0) are the Nittany Lions' leading scorers.

John Harrar, a senior who recorded the third double-double of his career in the loss to Ohio State, leads Penn State with 8.3 rebounds a game. He is shooting 55.7 percent from the field.

- Field Level Media