Wisconsin buries Penn State early for fifth win in a row

John Blackwell and Braeden Carrington scored 17 points apiece as Wisconsin cruised to a 98-71 win over Penn State in a Big Ten contest Thursday night in State College, Pa.

Nolan Winter added 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting for Wisconsin (14-5, 6-2), which won its fifth game in a row. Nick Boyd scored 11 points and Austin Rapp chipped in 10 points off the bench.

Josh Reed scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Penn State (9-10, 0-8), which dropped its sixth straight. Freddie Dilione V finished with 17 points and big man Ivan Juric pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with five points.

Wisconsin shot 50.7% (36 of 71) from the field and 42.9% (15 of 35) from 3-point range. Penn State shot 35.9% (23 of 64) overall and 29.6% (8 of 27) from deep.

The Badgers finished with a 42-18 advantage in points in the paint.

Penn State proved competitive in the first eight minutes. Melih Tunca made a layup off an assist from Dilone V to put the Nittany Lions ahead 13-12 with 12:06 to go in the first half.

Wisconsin responded with a 13-0 run and never looked back.

Andrew Rohde started the run with a layup and a free throw for a 3-point play. Aleksas Bieliauskas made a layup and Carrington scored the next six points on a 3-pointer and a trio of free throws.

Boyd finished the run with a layup to put the Badgers on top, 25-13, with 8:44 left in the half.

By halftime, Wisconsin increased its lead to 50-22. Carrington buried a 3-pointer from 31 feet to finish the first-half scoring with 10 seconds to go.

Penn State outscored Wisconsin 49-48 in a fast-paced second half, but the first-half deficit proved to be too steep to overcome.

The Badgers led by as many as 37 points in the second half. Zach Kinziger made a 3-pointer to give Wisconsin an 84-47 lead with 7:45 to play.

--Field Level Media