MADISON, Wis. – The Penn State men’s basketball team shot 56 percent from the field to earn the Nittany Lions’ first road win at Wisconsin in over 30 years as Penn State took down the 12th-ranked Badgers 86-75 Saturday afternoon inside the Kohl Center.
The win over #12 Wisconsin marks Penn State’s highest-ranked road win since Feb. 1, 2009. It is Penn State’s first-ever win inside Wisconsin’s Kohl Center and first win in Madison since Jan. 26, 1995.
D’Marco Dunn put together a career showing as the senior was 10-for-12 from the field and 4-for-5 from downtown for a career-high 25 points. Yanic Konan Niederhauser tallied his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Zach Hicks finished with 14 points, while Freddie Dilione V and Nick Kern Jr. tallied 12 points apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Badgers used a 4-for-4 showing from deep to jump out to a quick 16-3 lead just over four minutes into the game.
- A Nick Kern Jr. jumper and back-to-back triples from Kern Jr. and D’Marco Dunn helped Penn State string together an 8-2 run that narrowed the Wisconsin lead to seven at 18-11 with 14:08 on the first-half clock.
- The Nittany Lions stayed hot from downtown, making four of their first five triples, to pull within 26-21 at the under-12 media timeout.
- Wisconsin slowly worked its lead back to double digits as the Badgers pulled ahead by 13 at 40-27 following a John Tonje triple at 4:15.
- Penn State took control of the remainder of the half as the Nittany Lion defense held Wisconsin scoreless for the final 4:14. Four different Penn State players scored in the final three minutes of the half as an 8-0 run was capped by an Ace Baldwin Jr. triple and Penn State pulled within five at 40-35 heading into halftime.
- Zach Hicks canned a 3-pointer 12 seconds into the second half to narrow the Wisconsin lead to two points. A pair of Yanic Konan Niederhauser dunks were followed by a Freddie Dilione V 3-pointer at 17:25 that knotted the score at 45-45.
- Penn State took its first lead of the game following a conventional three-point play from Dilione V at 16:34 before Hicks drilled another trey at 15:35 that put the Nittany Lions ahead 51-47.
- The Nittany Lions defense fueled a 6-0 Penn State streak from 14:16 to 11:18 as Penn State held Wisconsin scoreless for over four minutes and back-to-back Kern Jr. buckets gave Penn State a 57-51 edge.
- The Badgers responded with nine of the next 11 points to jump back in front at 60-59 with 8:52 to play.
- Wisconsin’s lead lasted less than a minute as D’Marco Dunn nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and the Nittany Lions were back on top at 65-60 at 6:58.
- Dunn scored his 20th point of the game at 5:33 to put Penn State’s advantage at 69-62.
- The Badgers were back within two at 69-67 and then 72-70 as the clock wound under four minutes. Three free throws and another Dunn bucket extended the Nittany Lion lead back to seven at 77-70 with 2:46 left to play.
- Wisconsin wouldn’t get closer than six the rest of the way as Penn State closed out the 86-75 road win.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State’s road win at #12 Wisconsin marks Penn State’s highest-ranked road win since Feb. 1, 2009 when the Nittany Lions took down nine-ranked Michigan State.
- Penn State earns its first-ever road win inside the Kohl Center. It’s Penn State’s first road win at Wisconsin since Jan. 26, 1995 when the Nittany Lions and Badgers played inside the Wisconsin Field House. Penn State is now 3-23 all-time in road games at Wisconsin.
- The Nittany Lions shot 56.4 percent (31-55) from the field and 57.9 percent (11-19) from 3-point range.
- D’Marco Dunn finished with a career-best 25 points and the first 20-plus point performance of his career. Dunn scored in double figures for the 13th time this season and the eighth time in the last 12 games.
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser notched his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. He added five blocks.
The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.