It wasn't necessarily a tale of two halves in the same game for No. 19 Wisconsin and Penn State on Tuesday night, but rather a tale of the second halves of the last two games the Badgers and Nittany Lions played; a rare college basketball "home and home' series.
On Saturday, Wisconsin faltered defensively in the second half of their 81-71 loss at University Park. Tuesday night in the Kohl Center rematch, Greg Gard's club played one of their best second halves defensively all season, in breaking away for a 72-56 win.
Wisconsin (14-5, 8-4 in the Big Ten) was led by Jonathan Davis' 17 points off the bench. Teammate Brad Davison chipped in 13. Penn State (6-8, 3-7 in conference play) was led by Myreon Jones' 14 points. In the second half, the Nittany Lions were held to just 10-29 (34.5%) from the field, including 3-13 (23.1%) on three-point attempts.
The Badgers will next play at Illinois (12-5, 8-3 in Big Ten play) on Saturday afternoon starting at 1:30 p.m.