Kanye Clary supplied 27 points and Ace Baldwin Jr. chipped in 20 as Penn State handed No. 11 Wisconsin its first Big Ten defeat with an 87-83 victory on Tuesday evening at University Park, Pa.
The Nittany Lions (9-9, 3-4 Big Ten) had lost three of their previous four games, including a 17-point setback against No. 1 Purdue in their latest outing. However, they put together a much crisper effort in this one, shooting 53.3 percent from the field — including 60.7 percent after halftime — and finishing 8 of 20 (40 percent) from 3-point range.
AJ Storr had 23 points and Steven Crowl added 17 points and 11 boards to pace the Badgers (13-4, 5-1), who had won 12 of their previous 13 games. Wisconsin was respectable from the field (48.3 percent), from beyond the 3-point arc (7 of 16) and at the foul line (20 of 23) but was unable to get enough stops after intermission.
Penn State scored 12 of the game’s first 14 points — seven from Baldwin — to open an immediate double-digit advantage. The hosts again led by double figures with just under 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half before the Badgers went on an 11-3 run, capped by Markus Ilver’s 3-pointer that drew the visitors within 37-35.
Clary recorded the final basket of the first half to send the Nittany Lions into the locker room with a 39-35 edge.
Wisconsin finally caught up at 41-41 early in the second half, and then the teams were tied again at 43, 45, 52, 55 and 70 before the final deadlock at 72-72 with 4:01 to play.
Qudus Wahab broke that final tie with a dunk, and Clary made a jumper soon thereafter to put Penn State in front 78-74 with less than 2 1/2 minutes to go. Clary’s banked-in jumper with 37 seconds remaining made it a six-point game, and Wahab then dunked to seal the win in the waning seconds.
–Field Level Media
