Wisconsin hopes to continue dominance of Penn State (Jan 24, 2017)
MADISON, Wis. -- Starters for No. 15 Wisconsin had a lighter practice one day after the Badgers notched an exciting and exhausting 78-76 overtime win on Saturday at Minnesota.
Badgers coach Greg Gard gave reserves the opportunity to log additional preparation time despite a quick turnaround as Wisconsin (16-3, 5-1 Big Ten Conference) hosts Penn State (11-9, 3-4) on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
"We took that group of 12 non-starters and did a 10-minute scrimmage last night," Gard said about Sunday practice. "It was beneficial for both. Gave the heavy-minute guys some rest and continued to give the others more experience."
Sophomore forward Ethan Happ collected co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Monday, in large part due to his effort at Minnesota. Happ posted career highs of 28 points and five blocks. He also contributed 12 rebounds and matched a career high with six assists.
In two victories last week, Happ averaged 19.5 points, nine rebounds and 4.5 assists. Senior guard Bronson Koenig, who drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute to go in regulation against the Gophers, paces the Badgers in scoring at 14.3 points per game.
The Wisconsin program claims 17 consecutive victories against Penn State, but Gard said the current Nittany Lions corps is loaded with young talent and a couple veterans. He's familiar with freshman guard Tony Carr and freshman forward Lamar Stevens from the AAU basketball circuit.
The Nittany Lions lost two Big Ten games by three points (at Indiana, 78-75 and at Michigan, 72-69) during the first part of the league season. Penn State lost three of its last five games, but secured a 52-50 home win over Minnesota on Jan. 14.
In the Nittany Lions' most recent setback this past Saturday, they got pounded 77-52 at then-No. 21 Purdue.
Carr and Stevens, averaging 11.6 and 11.4 points per game, respectively, in their first collegiate seasons, played their prep careers together at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia. Carr leads the Nittany Lions with 3.6 assists per game.
Junior guard Shep Garner paces the team in scoring with 12.3 points per game and redshirt freshman forward Mike Watkins also provides valuable contributions with 9.8 points and 8.6 rebounds.
"In the past they've always depended on one guy to score 25, 30 points, and now they've got five guys that almost average double figures, so, they disburse that (offense) and share the ball pretty well," Gard said.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin senior forward Vitto Brown is improving every day after suffering a right leg and ankle injury last week in the second half of the Badgers' win against Michigan.
After sitting out practice leading up to the Minnesota game, Gard expected Brown to be sidelined but the starter was given the green light on Saturday after working with trainers. Brown had a lighter workload since the Badgers relied on a smaller lineup for portions of the game at Minnesota, and scored seven points in 17 minutes.
"I thought he would be somewhat limited but I was more concerned with changing direction in transition, getting up and down the floor and anything, maybe, in the half court," Gard said. "He stayed within himself and did a good job there."
