March 2, 2014
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -Behind a game-high 23 points from D.J. Newbill, the Penn State men's basketball team (14-15, 5-11) fell short in a 71-66 loss to No. 14/14 Wisconsin (24-5, 11-5) in the regular season home finale at the Bryce Jordan Center Sunday afternoon.
With 23 points, D.J. Newbill joined an elite group as one of 31 1,000-point scorers in program history. With 516 points on the year, he's also reached the 500 point mark for the second consecutive season, joining former Nittany Lions Jesse Arnelle, Joe Crispin and Talor with 500-plus points in multiple campaigns.
Ross Travis and Tim Frazier both joined Newbill in double digits with 10 points each. Travis added eight rebounds and two assists. With three rebounds Frazier hit a milestone mark as he became the second Big Ten player in league history to reach 1,000 (1,492) points, 600 (621) assists and 500 rebounds (501).
Brandon Taylor led the team on the glass with a career-high 10 rebounds, while also registering nine points. As a team, the Nittany Lions outrebounded the Badgers 34-28, including an 11-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
Wisconsin got out to a fast start, opening the game on a 5-2 streak. Narrowing the gap, the Nittany Lions answered with a 5-2 run, featuring a layup and a free throw from Frazier to knot the game, 7-all. Wisconsin responded with a 14-6 scoring stretch to pull ahead by as many as eight, 21-13.
Regrouping, Newbill drained a three-pointer to spark a 5-0 run that lifted PSU to within three, 21-18, but the Badgers put up six unanswered points to rebuild the advantage, 27-18. Trailing by nine, Newbill netted back-to-back buckets to shave the lead back to five, 27-22.
With 3:45 remaining in the first half, Wisconsin looked to settle into a rhythm following a free throw to make it 28-22, but Taylor completed a three-point play to put Penn State back within three, 28-25.
Unable to sustain the momentum, Josh Glasser connected on a three-ball to push the Badgers ahead by six, 31-25. With less than one minute remaining, Ross Travis drove in for a layup to send the Nittany Lions into the locker room trailing by four, 31-27.
Penn State came out of the intermission with two consecutive buckets from Taylor and Newbill to trim the Wisconsin lead to two, 33-31. The Badgers cut off the momentum, using a 10-2 streak featuring a pair of three-pointers to secure their largest lead of the game, 43-33.
Recovering, Newbill converted on a layup off of a steal from Travis, sparking an 8-2 streak that vaulted Penn State within four, 45-41. The Badgers answered with a bucket and a free throw to go back up by seven, 48-41, but Newbill and Donovon Jack followed with four unanswered points to make it a three-point game, 48-45, forcing Wisconsin to call a timeout.
Following the break, Ben Brust came out of the break with a three ball to lift Wisconsin ahead, 51-45. Penn State answered with a 6-2 run, featuring four free throws from Newbill and Travis to come within two, 53-51. Connecting on another three, Brust opened a 5-0 spurt that secured a seven-point advantage for the Badgers, 60-53.
Trailing by five, 62-57, with less than five minutes remaining in the second half, Travis tipped in a shot to push the Nittany Lions within three, 62-59. Holding off the Lions, the Badgers scored the next four unanswered points to remain ahead by seven, 66-59.
Making one final attempt to mount a comeback, Penn State responded with a 5-0 streak to arrive within two, 66-64 with less than 20 seconds to play. As time expired, the Badgers went four-for-four down the stretch to secure a 71-66 final decision.