Wisconsin continues streak over Penn State

MADISON, Wis. — As bad as the Kohl Center has been for opposing teams during the Bo Ryan era at Wisconsin, nobody dislikes the trip to Madison more than the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Penn State has never won in the facility, which opened in 1998, and the Nittany Lions’ streak of Kohl Center futility reached 14 games with an 89-72 loss to the No. 4 Badgers in the Big Ten opener Wednesday afternoon.

“Obviously, we ran into a buzz saw today,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. “They’re really good. You take one thing away, they go to the next thing; you take that away, they go to their third option and if you take that away, they go to the fourth.”

The Badgers’ offense was clicking on all cylinders Wednesday. Wisconsin shot 64 percent from the field and had four starters score in double figures, with forward Nigel Hayes’ 21 points leading the way.

Center Frank Kaminsky scored 18 points and pulled down 14 rebounds while forward Sam Dekker had 17 and point guard Treason Jackson chipped in 16 for the Badgers (13-1, 1-0 Big Ten), who extended their winning streak to six games.

“We have more than one guy that can control things on the offensive end,” said Dekker, who is averaging 15.6 points in his last four games. “When we have four, like we did today, it really puts the defense on its heels.”

The Nittany Lions were no slouch on offense, either. They connected at a 64 percent clip in the first half before cooling off down the stretch to finish at 54 percent while hitting five of 12 from beyond the arc.

But, as is usually the case against Wisconsin, free throws were the difference, as Penn State made just 12 trips to the line while Wisconsin covered 23 of 28 attempts.

“We had to shoot well to get this one,” Badgers coach Bo Ryan said.

Penn State guard D.J. Newbill led all scorers with 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting and a pair of 3-pointers. Guards Geno Thorpe and Shep Garner each scored 11 for the Nittany Lions Penn State (12-2, 0-1 Big Ten).

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get stops,” Chambers said. “They were very difficult to defend today. Especially when they’re hitting shots like that.

“We looked rusty and we looked tired in the second half. I think they just wore us down.”

After jumping out to an 8-0 lead, the Badgers overcame a rough stretch midway through the first half. Down 30-27 after a 3-pointer by Thorpe with 6:02 left in the half, Wisconsin went on a 9-0 run to go up six and took a 43-36 lead into halftime.

The Badgers shot 59 percent for the half while Penn State hit 64 percent of its shots.

Penn State got as close as nine before the Badgers pulled away and made it a 20-point game on Kaminsky’s layup with 7:57 to play.

Wisconsin shot 70 percent in the second half and led by as many as 22.

“We were moving the ball a lot better,” Kaminsky said. “Things kind of started to open up for us and once we got that lead, we didn’t give it up.”

The loss snapped Penn State’s 10-game winning streak and marked the Nittany Lions’ 16th consecutive loss in Madison.

NOTES: The Nittany Lions’ 10-game winning streak was their longest since the 1995-96 season, which also marks the last time a Penn State team opened the year 12-1. … Wisconsin outscored its nonconference opponents by an average of 21.2 points per game. … Nittany Lions G D.J. Newbill is averaging 21.5 points in four career games against the Badgers. … Badgers F Sam Dekker hit 7 of 10 from the field to improve his shooting percentage to 52.8 for the season. Wisconsin has won its conference opener 12 years in a row. … Penn State’s last victory at Wisconsin came Jan. 26, 1995 at the UW Field House. … Overall, the Nittany Lions have lost six in a row to Wisconsin and 19 of their last 21 meetings with the Badgers.