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Penn State Athletics

Penn State Travels to #11 Wisconsin Saturday Evening

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team returns to the road for its fourth away game in the last five contests Saturday evening when the Nittany Lions travel to take on #11 Wisconsin at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network. The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State travels to #11 Wisconsin for its fourth road game in the last five contests.
  • The Nittany Lions own four Big Ten wins and are coming off a thrilling 90-86 double-overtime defeat of Iowa Monday night in their most recent game.
  • Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Seth Lundy's 13.4 ppg. Jalen Pickett (13.3 ppg) and Sam Sessoms (11.2 ppg) follow, while John Harrar is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.8 ppg and 9.6 rpg.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS WISCONSIN

  • The Nittany Lions would earn a win in Madison for the first time in 27 years. Penn State's last road win at Wisconsin was on Jan. 26, 1995 (78-67).
  • #11 Wisconsin would be the highest-ranked true road win for Penn State since the Nittany Lions defeated #9/9 Michigan State 72-68 on Feb. 1, 2009.

 
SCOUTING THE BADGERS

  • The 11th-ranked Badgers own a 17-4 overall record and 8-3 mark in Big Ten play.
  • Wisconsin is coming off an 80-67 loss at #18 Illinois Wednesday night. The Badgers' four losses this season have all come against teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll (#18 Illinois, #13 Michigan State, #16 Ohio State and #15 Providence).
  • The Badgers are led by All-American candidate Johnny Davis, who averages 21.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
  • Brad Davison chips in 15.2 points per game behind a team-best 2.7 made 3-pointers per contest. Tyler Wahl rounds out the double-digit Badger scorers with 11.0 points per game.

 
AGAINST WISCONSIN

  • The Badgers own a 41-11 edge in the all-time series and 21-2 advantage when playing in Madison.
  • The two teams split the regular-season series during the 2020-21 season, with the home team winning each contest. The two teams met again in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, with the Badgers holding on for a 75-74 win.
  • Penn State's 81-71 win over then-#14 Wisconsin last season in the BJC was the Nittany Lions' first victory over the Badgers since 2011. Penn State will be looking for its first road win at Wisconsin since 1995.

 
BACK ON TRACK

  • Penn State returned home for the first time in 20 days with a flair for the dramatic, winning a wild 90-86 double-overtime thriller over Iowa Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center to snap a three-game skid.
  • Iowa's Keegan Murray tipped in the game-tying basket at the buzzer to force overtime with the score knotted at 66. It was Myles Dread who came up big in the first overtime period, nailing a game-tying triple with nine seconds left on the clock to help Penn State force double-overtime at 78-78. Jalen Pickett scored Penn State's first five points of double-overtime before Penn State went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final seconds to secure the 90-86 victory over the Hawkeyes, the Nittany Lions' first double-overtime victory since 2016.
  • Five Nittany Lions scored in double figures, led by graduate student John Harrar's career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the season. Junior Seth Lundy also had a double-double with 17 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.

 
ROAD WARRIORS

  • Saturday's game at #11 Wisconsin is Penn State's fourth road contest in the last five games.
  • Due to the postponement of Jan. 19's game against Minnesota the Nittany Lions will have played just one home game from Jan. 12-Feb. 7 - the 90-86 2OT win against Iowa on Jan. 31. Those four road games all came against tough opponents in #16 Ohio State, Iowa, RV Indiana and #11 Wisconsin. 
  • Penn State gets a reprieve from the brutal road stretch following the trip to Wisconsin, playing five of its next seven games at home from Feb. 8-28.

 
B1G ROAD OPPORTUNITY

  • Penn State has a big opportunity ahead of it at #11 Wisconsin Saturday. The Nittany Lions have not beaten Wisconsin on the road since 1995, and have the chance to become the first Penn State team to do so in 27 years.
  • Penn State owns just two wins in Madison in 23 tries. The Nittany Lions beat the Badgers 78-67 on Jan. 26, 1995 in Madison after earning a 62-58 road win on March 3, 1993. Wisconsin has won the last 20 meetings against Penn State played on the Badgers' home court.
  • Wisconsin, currently ranked 11th in both the AP and Coaches Polls, would also be Penn State's highest-ranked true road win since 2009, when the Nittany Lions defeated #9/9 Michigan State in East Lansing by a score of 72-68 on Feb. 1, 2009. Penn State has beaten a top 15 team on the road in each of the last two seasons (#15/15 Virginia Tech on 12/8/20 and #16/14 Michigan State on 2/4/20), but not a team ranked as high as the #11 Badgers.

 
DOUBLE TROUBLE

  • John Harrar (19 p, 10 r) and Seth Lundy (17 p, 11 r) both recorded double-doubles in Penn State's win over Iowa Monday night.
  • It marked the first time that two Nittany Lions have had a double-double in the same game since Mike Watkins (15 p, 11 r) and Lamar Stevens (15 p, 10 r) did so on Dec. 10, 2019 against Maryland.

 
PICKETT'S POP

  • Senior transfer Jalen Pickett ranks in the top 15 amongst conference players in Big Ten games in scoring (15.7 ppg - t13th), assists (4.0/game - t-9th), FG% (43.1% - 14th), steals (1.4/game - 6th), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.35 - 6th) and minutes played (37.39/game - 2nd) .
  • The guard is averaging 15.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.9 rebounds per Big Ten contest.

 
B1G JOHN

  • Penn State graduate student John Harrar owns season-long marks of 10.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. His 9.6 rebounds per game rank second in the Big Ten and 18th nationally. as of Thursday, Feb. 3.
  • The Wallingford, Pa. native has tallied six double-doubles thus far, pulled down double-digit rebounds in nine contests, and is shooting 65.5 percent (72-110) from the field. Harrar owns 12 career double-doubles, making him one of just 17 Penn State players all-time to register double-digit double-doubles in their Penn State career.

 
DREAD FROM DEEP

  • Senior Myles Dread drilled his 200th career 3-pointer in Penn State's Jan. 5 win at Northwestern, making him the seventh Nittany Lion to ever reach 200 career triples. He currently has 210 career treys, the sixth-most all-time by a Nittany Lion. He needs 11 to match Danny Morrissey's fifth-best mark of 221 career 3-pointers.
  • Dread is shooting 38.4 percent (33-86) from deep during his senior season, by far his most efficient season from downtown. He shot 35.6 percent from 3-point range as a freshman in 2018-19.
  • Dread has proven to have a knack for clutch shots, most recently hitting the game-tying basket to force double overtime in Penn State's 90-86 2OT win over Iowa on Jan. 31.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions return home Tuesday night to host Michigan at 9 p.m. on ESPN2 inside the Bryce Jordan Center. All fans are encouraged to wear white for Penn State's annual Wear White game.