Penn State men’s basketball (9-9, 3-4 Big Ten) upset No. 11 Wisconsin (13-4, 5-1 Big Ten) 87-83 in an insane back-and-forth win at home behind a rocking home crowd at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State led for the majority of the contest and picked up huge shots down the stretch for the first-ranked win in the Mike Rhoades era.

Kanye Clary led the way with 27 points and four rebounds, and Ace Baldwin Jr., in his most efficient game of the season, dropped 20 points and four triples. Nick Kern Jr. also added 15 points and two steals in the win.

With the upset in hand, the BJC hosted its rowdiest night of the season, featuring a court storm after the win.

Court ed pic.twitter.com/HcQBwlU3Zm

— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 17, 2024

How It Happened

After losing the tip, the Badgers were unsuccessful on their first shot of the game. Baldwin used nearly the entire shot clock on Penn State’s first offensive possession but drilled a long three for the first basket of the game.

Clary tacked on his first two points of the game with free throws after being fouled going to the hole. Max Klesmit got Wisconsin on the board with a mid-range jumper, however, Zach Hicks drilled his first three-pointer of the night to make it 8-2 in favor of the Nittany Lions.

Baldwin kept the fire going for the Nittany Lions, and after a big block by Qudus Wahab, the guard drilled a contested jumper. The squads traded three-point misses, but Baldwin’s hot start continued with another jumper to put Penn State up 10 points heading into the first media timeout.

Out of the break, the Badgers got things going with back-to-back layups by Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl before Clary answered back with a driving layup of his own.

Connor Essegian and Clary traded jumpers on back-to-back possessions. Wahl knocked down a hook shot but was followed up by a tough-made layup by D’Marco Dunn.

With just over 10 minutes to play in the half, Leo O’Boyle knocked down his first triple of the night to make it 21-10 Penn State. Down 11, the Badgers needed points and got them from their big man Crowl, who knocked down another hook shot and followed that up with a slam dunk.

Hicks didn’t let that slide as he drilled his second three-pointer of the game to put the Nittany Lions back up double-digits. Crowl answered back with an and-one layup and free throw, however, Kern responded with back-to-back driving layups.

After a timeout by Wisconsin, the Badgers went on a much-needed scoring run. John Blackwell drilled a mid-range jumper, and AJ Storr scored a driving layup and knocked down a three to make it a five-point game.

Kern finally ended that run with a tough turnaround layup and Clary followed it up with a highlight-reel dime to Hicks for a wide-open three to put them back up 10.

Smoother than pic.twitter.com/faQ4kT90ze

— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 17, 2024

The Badgers weren’t done yet, putting together after a pair of free throws from Blackwell, a slam dunk from Storr, and a layup from Blackwell to make it 34-30 Penn State and force Mike Rhoades to call his first timeout.

After a steal by Kern, the guard drove to the rim and slammed home a big dunk that exploded the Bryce Jordan Center.

Nick Kern Jr. to the pic.twitter.com/WtelH4PzFm

— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 17, 2024

With under three to play in the first half, Wisconsin got a pair of free throws from Blackwell, and Penn State got one of two free throws from Kern. Markus Ilver knocked down a second-chance three to cut the Nittany Lions’ lead to just two points.

Clary went right down the floor and got a layup to fall with just over a minute left to get back to a four-point lead for Penn State. After an offensive foul by the Badgers, Penn State had the last shot of the half, but Clary couldn’t knock down a deep three, and Penn State went into the half up 39-35.

At the start of the second half, Crowl knocked down a turn-around layup for the first bucket of the half. After a steal by Baldwin, Clary drove to the rim and knocked down a layup for Penn State’s first make of the second half.

Chucky Hepburn picked Hicks’ pocket and tossed a lob to Storr, who slammed it home to tie the game at 41. Clary and Crowl traded makes on their possessions, and Baldwin got a tough layup to drop in to keep Penn State ahead 45-43.

Klesmit didn’t let that score hold for long as he tied things up once again with a second-chance jumper. After a steal by Demetrius Lilley, Baldwin made a fantastic move to get his defender off him and drilled a huge three-pointer to retake the lead.

Wahl and Lilley traded layups and Clary responded with a driving layup of his own. Storr knocked down a corner three to tie things up once again, but that didn’t last long as Baldwin drilled another triple to go back up three heading into the first media break of the half.

After the timeout, Wisconsin tied things up again with a Klesmit three. Clary regained the lead with a mid-range floater in the paint and, after a big stop, Dunn scored a huge layup to make it 59-55 Penn State.

Baldwin found Lilley for a beautiful wide-open layup, but Nolan Winter answered back with a layup of his own. With under 10 minutes to play, Clary continued his impressive night with another impressive floater.

Down by six, the Badgers cut that deficit back down to three with a Blackwell three. Baldwin followed that up with a long three of his own to make it 66-60 Penn State.

Storr knocked down a pair of free throws but Clary responded quickly with his 20th point of the game on a huge driving layup. Crowl slammed home another dunk to get the game back to a four-point game and Wahl picked up a foul as the teams went into a media break.

After the timeout, Wahl hit one of two free throws, and one possession later Crowl slammed home another dunk to make it a one-point game.

With just over five to play, Klesmit drilled a long three that gave the Badgers a 70-68 lead, their first of the game. Kern picked up a foul call and knocked both free throws and after a steal by Clary, Kern picked up another foul call and hit another pair of free throws for the lead.

Storr drove to the lane and picked up the foul call on Hicks and drilled both of his free throws to tie the game once again. At 72-all, Baldwin found a way to get a pass to Wahab, who was wide open in the paint for a slam dunk and the lead.

With three minutes left in the game, Penn State picked up a huge turnover after the Badgers hit the ball out of bounds. Baldwin picked up a foul call and knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to four.

Baldwin was called for a questionable foul call and Blackwell knocked down both foul shots. Up two points, Clary got a runner to drop in to get the lead back to four. Blackwell was fouled once again but went one of two from the line.

Kern was fouled with under two minutes to play and hit both foul shots to make it 80-75. However, he was called for a foul on the ensuing possession and fouled out of the game. Wahl knocked down both free throws to make it a three-point game as Rhoades called a timeout with a minute and a half to play.

Up 80-77, Clary drove to the lane and got the foul call. The guard knocked down one of two shots to make it a four-point lead. On the Badger’s ensuing possession Wahab picked up a huge block and Clary drove down through the lane and hit a huge jumper to go up six.

With 23 seconds left, Wahl picked up a foul call and knocked down both shots. After a scuffle for the inbound, Penn State secured the ball and set Wahab up for a thunderous slam dunk.

Essegian was fouled and hit one of two. With just seconds remaining in the game, Clary was fouled and knocked down both shots. With seconds left, Wisconsin drilled a three-pointer as time expired, and the Nittany Lions held on to the 87-83 win.

Takeaways

• What a win for the Nittany Lions. They battled and hung in against the Badgers all game and picked up their first-ranked win of the season and of the Mike Rhoades era.
• Clary continues to ball out. The second-year guard dropped a team-high 27 points and added four rebounds. He kept the Nittany Lions in the game all night picking up baskets throughout the contest.
• In what was by far his most efficient shooting performance of the season, Baldwin scored 20 and shot a fantastic 7-11 from the field and 4-5 from three. In what’s been an up-and-down start to the season, the guard by far had one of his best nights of the season.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will travel to Columbus for their second matchup of the season against Ohio State. That game is set to tip off at noon on Saturday, January 20, and can be streamed on the Big Ten Network.