Final
Badgers hold off Nittany Lions
Feb 20, 2012 - 12:05 AM Madison, WI (Sports Network) - Josh Gasser netted 15 points while Ryan Evans added 11 points and nine rebounds as No. 15 Wisconsin held off a late Penn State charge to down the Nittany Lions, 65-55.Jared Berggren had 13 points to go with six rebounds, Jordan Taylor scored 11 and Mike Bruesewitz finished with seven points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-7, 9-5 Big Ten), who bounced back from Thursday's loss to Michigan State in East Lansing. Wisconsin has won eight of its last 10 contests.
"Really big rebounds, hustle plays, Mike (Bruesewitz) was really into the game. Mike gave what he had. He's a sparkplug that way. He's kind of like [Joe] Krabbenhoft in that way. It's always good to see him bring that energy because it is contagious," Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said of Bruesewitz's play.
The Badgers made 11-of-22 three-point attempts and held a 37-24 rebounding advantage.
Tim Frazier had 20 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Nittany Lions (12-16, 4-11), who had won two in a row coming in after a five-game losing streak.
Wisconsin connected on 7-of-14 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half en route to a 35-21 halftime advantage. Gasser nailed three treys and netted 11 points to pace Wisconsin. Frazier poured in 10 points to lead the Nittany Lions.
A 7-0 Badgers flurry allowed Wisconsin to breach the 20-point barrier as Evans' jumper gave the hosts a 49-29 lead with 11:57 to play.
Frazier and the Nittany Lions, though, did not go away silently.
The visitors reeled off the next 13 points as back-to-back Frazier buckets bridged the gap to seven, 49-42, with 7:24 remaining.
Frazier's pass set up Jon Graham's layup inside to pull the visitors within five, but Berggren's trey at the other end pushed the advantage back to eight, 54-46, with 5:35 left.
Jermaine Marshall's tough driving layup cut the deficit to six, but another Berggren trey, followed by Taylor's jumper made it 61-50 with 2:51 to play.
"[Jared] Berggren, those two threes he hit were to me the difference because I thought we battled back and we did some good things, but they were daggers," Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers said.
The Nittany Lions cut the deficit to eight, but it was as close as they got in the closing minutes.
Game Notes
The Badgers were 14-of-17 from the foul line...The Nittany Lions outscored the Badgers 32-8 in the paint, but made just 4-of-18 from beyond the arc...Marshall finished with 12 points.
- PENN STATE: 55
WISCONSIN: 65
Final
Feb 19 5:55 PM - PENN STATE: 21
WISCONSIN: 35
Halftime
Feb 19 4:48 PM - PENN STATE: 0
WISCONSIN: 0
1st Half - 20:00
Feb 19 4:07 PM
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