Penn State fell to 10-13 on the season and 2-8 in Big Ten play on Tuesday night with a 52-46 loss against No. 20 Wisconsin at the Bryce Jordan Center. Today, we take a look at the high and low points of the Nittany Lions' effort and hear the thoughts of players and coaches on the game. Be sure to check out our game stream for a recap and video below.
The Good
-Penn State played excellent team defense, holding Wisconsin to just 35.4 percent shooting on the evening. And while star guard Jordan Taylor was able to shake loose for 18 points, he really had to earn it as he shot 4-12 from the field. Beyond Taylor, no Wisconsin scorer had more than Ryan Evans' 11 points, reflecting what an all-around lockdown effort it was defensively for Penn State.
-The Lions had to limit turnovers to stay in the game until the end, and they did, coughing it up just nine times. Of course, Penn State was only able to generate five turnovers of its own, so the margin still ended up negative. Nevertheless, the ball security showed an encouraging level of discipline against a good team.
-Penn State won the rebounding margin 36-31 overall and 12-9 on the offensive glass. That marks three straight games against ranked opponents that the Lions have had a plus margin on the offensive boards, and they did it against the Badgers playing four guards, for the most part. This bodes well for the team's future. If it can build and offense around this type of rebounding effort, Penn State will be a tough out every night in the years to come.
-The crowd of 8,751 was excellent for a work night.
The Bad
-As if the 36.0 percent shooting effort from the field wasn't bad enough, the Lions were just 2-10 from 3-point range and 8-14 from the foul line (57.1 percent). A shot here and a shot there from anywhere would have been huge in what was a close game to the end. The Lions just couldn't hit, which has to frustrate them given their good work in a number of other areas.
-Tim Frazier scored 17 of Penn State's 23 second half points. Jermaine Marshall, who finished with 13 points after 10 in the first half, had three. Outside of those two, most everyone on the team was completely absent on the offensive end after barely showing up in the first. This team needs to find a third option soon with Billy Oliver out of the lineup indefinitely.
-Marshall, Cammeron Woodyard and Matt Glover combined to commit 14 fouls. That's a staggering total for a trio of guards. Granted, some came as Penn State was trying to foul to get the ball back late, but that's still a big number for perimeter players to be giving in one game.
Quotable
-Penn State coach Patrick Chambers on wearing a pair of black Nike tennis shoes and rolled up white khakis in honor of the late Joe Paterno: "It was a tribute to Joe Paterno, what he's done and what he's meant to this university, and it's also awareness, Coaches vs. Cancer awareness and I wanted to bring that to the forefront and make sure people know that I'm on board and we're going to work extremely hard with Coaches vs. Cancer and do whatever we can to beat cancer."
-Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan on taking his players to the Joe Paterno statue on Tuesday afternoon: "I'd have played for the guy. I'd have coached with the guy."
Video Corner
Penn State's Tim Frazier and Jermaine Marshall
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan.
Penn State coach Patrick Chambers.