Penn State loses heartbreaker in overtime against Wisconsin
The Bryce Jordan Center has been a fortress for Penn State this season. Coming into Wednesday night’s game against Wisconsin, they had only lost once at home.
That changed after a 74-79 loss in overtime.
Jalen Pickett led the team in scoring with 17 points along with eight rebounds and eight assists. Guard Camren Wynter added 15 points and Seth Lundy continued his hot shooting stretch with four three pointers.
However, it wasn’t enough to slow down Wisconsin, who came into the game with a losing conference record on the road.
Penn State got off to a good start early in the game from three-point range, hitting their first two. Those were the only threes made in the first half as they missed their next seven three-pointers.
After Penn State’s second made three-pointer two minutes into the game, the offense went cold. A scoreless stretch of five and a half minutes was exacerbated by seven missed shots in a row.
Jalen Pickett hit a buzzer-beater before halftime to make the deficit six points.
The second half was a familiar story that Penn State has been facing their last three games. Finding themselves in a hole and trying to climb their way out.
Wisconsin was able to keep them on the ropes for the majority of the second half. With just over four minutes left to play, Penn State took their first lead of the game since they led 8-5 two minutes into the first half.
In the final three minutes of the game, there were three lead changes and three ties.
Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn, the game’s leading scorer with 19 points, hit a three with 33 seconds left to put the Badgers up three points.
Seth Lundy answered with his own three to tie the game up at 68 and force overtime.
That was the closest Penn State would be for the remainder night.
Wisconsin took the early lead and didn’t give it back, handing Penn State their third loss in a row.
This season, the home court has proven to be a major advantage for the Nittany Lions. That’s why this overtime loss was so crushing.
For a team that clearly struggles on the road, dropping games at home is a recipe for disaster.
The story of this three-game losing streak is the inability to guard the three-point line.
Purdue shot 45 percent, Nebraska shot 40 percent and Wisconsin shot 46 percent.
Penn State will look to end its losing streak Saturday as they go on the road to face Maryland.
