Wisconsin Badgers tried to string together some momentum for the last month of the season. They bounced back nicely mid-week with a win over Maryland where they had control for most of the game. It seemed like that trend would repeat itself with a strong first half against Penn State but that wasn’t the case. Things went awry for Wisconsin in the second half leading to Penn State’s first win against Wisconsin since 2011. The Nittany Lions made the Badgers play their game which led to more turnovers and bad shots for the Badgers.

What went wrong for Wisconsin: More turnovers than expected led to easy Penn State buckets – Penn State forced Wisconsin into 12 turnovers. Now, you look at that number and think ‘Wow, that’s not too much.’ But when you’re Wisconsin, 12 feels like 25. That is tied their season-high on the season. Those mistakes led to points for the Nittany Lions. This is uncharacteristic of Wisconsin and something that will likely just be a blip.

What also went wrong for Wisconsin: They settled way too often – The biggest thing I feel like I always write about when Wisconsin loses is they settle for outside jumpers versus attacking the basket. It seems to be their kryptonite whenever they fall out of rhythm. Wisconsin only went to the free-throw line eight times on Saturday. That is not going to result in much success especially when you’re only shooting 25 percent from three.

What did go right for Wisconsin: Nate Reuvers had his first good game in a long while – One takeaway to be encouraged by if you’re a Bucky fan is Nate Reuvers looked really good. He scored 18 points and looked like the guy you saw last year or the year prior. If the Badgers can get Reuvers to be a 10-15 point scorer regularly, Wisconsin will be a tough out in March.

Player of the Game: Nate Reuvers
Honorable Mention: Tyler Wahl

Next up: Wisconsin will get set to battle Penn State again on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center. This will be the Badgers’ first back-to-back matchup. My guess is they will not lose this one.

Charlie.