Penn State men’s basketball (9-10, 0-8 Big Ten) lost to Wisconsin (14-5, 6-2 Big Ten) 98-71 in Rec Hall on Thursday night.

The Nittany Lions fell apart after another long scoreless drought in the first half. Wisconsin led 50-22 at the break as Penn State extended its winless streak in conference play to eight in its Return to Rec and White Out game.

How It Happened

Mike Rhoades rolled out the starting five of Ivan Jurić, a masked Kayden Mingo, Dominick Stewart, Josh Reed, and Eli Rice. The Nittany Lions forced a stop after Wisconsin rolled with the opening tip. Reed missed a left-handed shot on Penn State’s first possession of the game.

Mingo bodied his way to the cup to draw first blood. He then hit a stepback deep two that quickly riled up the Rec Hall crowd. Aleksas Bieliauskas grabbed his own rebound and converted in the paint for Wisconsin’s first score.

Bieliauskas and Rice exchanged misses from deep before Mingo overthrew Saša Ciani on his way to the bucket. Reed converted from mid-range and snagged a rebound from Wisconsin 7-foot junior Nolan Winter. Freddie Dilione V snuck in another jumper as Penn State claimed an 8-7 lead.

Dilione narrowly missed a corner three, but Reed made up for it with a left-handed stroke on the next possession. John Blackwell tipped the lead back in the Badgers’ favor with a trey of his own before the first media timeout.

Melih Tunca took advantage of a Wisconsin miss with a fast-break layup coming out of the timeout.

Jurić turned the ball over off a bad inbound. Andrew Rohde grabbed the ball at midcourt and laid it in for the and-one. Tunca let one fly from beyond the arc, but it didn’t fall. Bieliauskas finished a layup high off the glass to hand Wisconsin a four-point lead halfway through the first half.

Braeden Carrington extended the Badgers’ lead to seven off an 8-0 run in just over two minutes. Wisconsin poured it on with five more points before Rhoades called a timeout.

Reed broke Penn State’s drought with a three-pointer, but Carrington immediately matched it on Wisconsin’s subsequent possession.

Wisconsin’s lead ballooned to 13 behind some more foul shots. Dilione showed off his shiftiness in the paint, but missed a jumper and a three-pointer by a good margin. Rohde made the Nittany Lions pay from downtown. Blackwell tipped two more points in as Rhoades spent another timeout.

Jack Janicki swatted Reed from behind, which led to a Winter layup and a 20-point Badger lead. Carrington put the cherry on top with his third triple of the night as Wisconsin led 40-17.

Winter made a smooth move to the cup past Ciani for an easy score.

Stewart snapped Penn State’s scoreless drought with a mid-range jumper with just over two minutes remaining in the half. Blackwell sank a three to immediately hand Wisconsin back its 25-point lead. Carrington muscled his way through the paint for a tough layup.

Rice cashed in from the charity stripe, and Carrington splashed a deep three to end the first half. Wisconsin led 50-22.

Both squads exchanged a series of misses to open the second half. Winter notched an and-one before Blackwood put the Nittany Lions on the board.

Blackwood continued trying his hot hand and sank a mid-range jumper. The Nittany Lions forced another series of Badger misses with the help of the student section.

Dilione converted from downtown as Justin Houser entered the game for some rare minutes. Winter capitalized on another Wisconsin and-one opportunity, taking a hard fall to the deck in the process.

Reed sailed a corner three in as the scoring pace picked up. It didn’t matter as Penn State was still down 30 points, but it elevated some excitement in Rec Hall.

Dilione cashed in an easy two points before Austin Rapp dunked on him, going into the media timeout. The Badgers led 70-42 with 11:17 remaining in the contest.

Rohde sank a triple from the top of the key, which Dilione matched on the other end.

Rec Hall began to clear out with around eight minutes left in the game. Jurić snuck his way through the paint for an and-one. Hayden Jones laid one in for the Badgers as Mingo misfired from mid-range.

Zach Kinziger and Dilione exchanged treys.

Blackwood poked away a ball in the final minute. He drew the foul and made both shots from the stripe. He hit a three-pointer in the dying seconds.

Takeaways

• After keeping its first run of Big Ten games close, the rails have fallen off a bit for the Nittany Lions. This marks the second consecutive game that Penn State has lost by over 20 points. It remains winless in conference play.
• Kayden Mingo has struggled since his return from injury. He went 3-for-14 from the field against the Badgers and went 0-for-3 from downtown. Without his scoring presence, Penn State’s outlook on the rest of the season only looks bleaker.
• The runs continue to kill the Nittany Lions game in and game out. Penn State goes cold and consistently embarks on a scoreless drought sometime in the first half that becomes impossible to climb out of. It’s a recipe for disaster.

What’s Next?

Penn State hits the road to take on Ohio State at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 26, in Value City Arena. The game will be nationally televised on FS1.