Penn State vs. Wisconsin Preview: Lions Approach a Big Ten Crossroads
Penn State sits at a defining point of the Big Ten men's basketball season as it hosts No. 6 Wisconsin on Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Nittany Lions, having lost three straight games, are swimming upstream into a grueling conference stretch. They are scheduled to face six ranked teams in seven games over the next three weeks, a run that will determine their NCAA tournament hopes.
Interim coach Jim Ferry had lamented Penn State's game shortage in December (they played just three in a 17-day span), citing that as reason for the team's defensive shortcomings in losses to Illinois and Indiana.
Now comes Wisconsin, a team to which Penn State has lost 13 consecutive games. Ferry wants Penn State to control the tempo, force Wisconsin to run and improve its defense exponentially. That has been a focus of practice since the Dec. 30 overtime loss to Indiana.
Penn State ranks last in the Big Ten in points allowed (75.4) and also last in defensive rebounds.
"We're not very good [defensively]," Ferry said. "We're not defending to the level that we need to defend to. We're making adjustments, and we've got guys playing really hard. We lack rim protection, and everybody's attacking us that way. We have to make adjustments to that."
Penn State (3-4, 0-3 Big Ten) vs. No. 6 Wisconsin (9-2, 3-1)
When: Noon EST Sunday
Where: Bryce Jordan Center
TV: Big Ten Network
About the Lions: Penn State spent the past two days trying to cleanse the memory of an 87-85 overtime loss at Indiana, a game the team thought it had won in regulation. "That was a heartbeaking loss at Indiana," Ferry said. "I thought we, certainly down the stretch, outplayed them. We were up, we had a chance to win the game. There were some controversial calls maybe that you felt like there was a lot of emotion, but in reality we had to get right back to practice. If you let it linger, it's just not OK. That's the way to keep yourself losing instead of making plays to win." Penn State leads the Big Ten in steals per game (8.3) and ranks second in 3-pointers (10.1 per game), two cornerstones of its game. But the Lions have to develop a stronger inside presence, both offensively and defensively, to compete in the Big Ten this season.
About the Badgers: Wisconsin is 39-10 against Penn State and hasn't lost to the Lions since 2011. The Badgers also have won eight straight in State College, their longest Big Ten road win streak in school history. Ferry said Wisconsin benefits from a lineup that has more than 370 combined starts. The Badgers' starters all post double-digit scoring averages, with D'Mitrik Trice topping the list at 14.2 ppg. Micah Potter leads the Badgers in field-goal percentage (51.1 percent). Wisconsin has three wins over AP Top 25 teams, including a road victory at then-No. 12 Michigan State on Christmas Day.
Get the latest Penn State news by joining the community. Click "Follow" at the top right of our AllPennState page. Mobile users click the notification bell. And please follow AllPennState on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.
