Live Game Blog: Penn St. vs. UW

Badgers fresh off big road win at Michigan, while PSU held off Northwestern at home. Penn State 12-2 on the season, best start in 13 years.

19:20: Cornley opens scoring with long 2. Nankivil answers to tie game at 2.

18:45: Hughes on give and go backdoor cut.

18:18: Landry pivots and hits from short corner. Jones answers with solid interior feed for Penn St. 6-4.

17:40: Battle ties game with another long J for PSU. Lions getting good looks early at the basket.

17:08: Perimeter foul called on Penn State.

17:00: J-Bo for 3 on a rattler.

16:38: Cornley on baseline hook.

16:17: Leuer loves the elbow. Hits contested shot. Instant offense from #30! 11-8 UW.

15:45: Cornley hits third basket. Lack of helpside D. 11-10.

15:33: J-Bo draws another perimeter foul. Timeout Penn St. Jarmusz and Gully enter game for UW.

14:59: Jordan Taylor makes first appearance. Let's hope he builds on Wednesday's strong performance in limited minutes.

13:55: Brooks gives Penn State the lead. Lack of offense on the floor for Bucky, and defense looks shaky, too.

12:25: Rob Wilson in the game, great hustle on offensive glass saves possession.

12:07: Krabby stops bleeding with driving runner. Bucky regains lead, 13-12. Ends 4-minute FG drought.

11:44: TV timeout. Penn State fails to take advantage of UW's dry spell. Let's see if Wisconsin can create some separation during the next stretch.

11:29: Landry draws foul underneath on Cornley, 4th on PSU. Hits both. 15-12.

10:54: Morrisey hits contested 2 over J-Bo as shot clock expires. 15-14.

10:30: Another Penn State foul, this one as Krabby battles for position in the paint. Badgers with only one foul.

10:08: I spoke too soon. Landry whistled for foul on what looked like a clean block. Cornley getting the better of matchup so far, hits both FT's. PSU 16-15.

9:33: Hughes misses from 3, needs to get in on action.

8:32: Landry turnaround J over Cornley. Bucky regains lead in see-saw battle.

7:31: TV timeout. Bucky still struggling on offense, and it starts with the PG position. Hughes settled for a contested jump shot on last possession and has yet to take the lid off the basket. Defense has tightened up and played decent helpside, yielding the current 1-point lead.

7:18: Landry on another turnaround, taking advantage of his height over Cornley.

6:52: Ott draws foul on drive. Nankivil whistled for 1st.

6:11: Cornley with half hook over Leuer. 19-18 WI.

5:39: Krabby on excellent baseline drive. Pringle answers with quick 2 on the other end.

4:58: Landry from 3! Great half on offensive end. Cornley answers in the paint once more. 24-22 Bucky.

4:23: Cornley called for 2nd foul, stays in game with 12 points.

3:34: Landry on fadeaway. Badger red hot!

3:01: Floater by Pringle. UW's transition D poor.

2:43: J-Bo on baseline drive. 28-24 UW.

2:05: Taylor draws foul on drive to the basket. Timeout on the floor. Bucky needs a strong finish to an up and down half. Landry has shouldered the offensive load so far, and Krabby has scored the critical baskets when the team needed them most, but the guards have been MIA. Taylor misses first, drills second. 29-24.

1:39: David Jackson scores off of offensive RB.

1:04: Brooks bails out J-Bo with foul on drive to basket as shot clock winds down. Hits one, plus the bonus. 31-26.

:34.6: Wisconsin timeout. 4-second differential on shot and game clocks. UW should wind clock down and try to find a way to get the ball in Landry's hands once more.

:04.4: J-Bo for three as shot clock expires. 34-26.

HALFTIME. Penn State hitting half of shots from the field, UW slightly below. Look for BO to stress better helpside defense at halftime and ball pressure on the perimeter as post entries to Corney have come to easy despite Landry's fronts. On offense, as I said before, Hughes needs to contribute, first by taking the ball to the basket and kicking out if the shot isn't there. That said, a lackluster half still yields a 8-point lead against a 12-2 team.

Landry leads UW with 13, Cornley with 12. Penn State yet to hit a 3, and Bucky has made 3-6. This, along with a +3 turnover differential (5-2), the reason for the halftime lead. Both teams officially shooting 48% from field. Taylor Battle, BT's leading scorer, has only 2 points. Hughes has made a difference here.

SECOND HALF.

19:20: Hughes corrals offensive RB, draws foul.

19:02: Cringle converts in transition after Krabby misses bunny on other end. 34-28.

18:20: Krabby misses a 2nd open layup off of excellent spin move.

17:49: Make that a third Krabbenhoff miss. UW still scoreless.

17:38: Jackson draws foul with poor transition defense to blame once more. Hits first, misses second. UW up five.

16:57: Loose ball foul called on Jones. UW fortunate as they get beat back on defense once more. Taylor in for Hughes.

16:38: J-Bo makes aggressive move to basket, draws foul. Hits both. 36-29. UW still looking for a FG.

16:23: Cornley hits deep 2. Game leader with 14.

16:05: Leuer takes lid off basket on excellent drive to hoop, scores on floater. 38-31.

15:51: Timeout on the floor. UW has weathered early second half storm thanks to J-Bo and Leuer. Time to extend this lead to double digits. I'm confident the offense will be there, so they need to get back on D and play strong helpside in the post.

15:05: Cornley hits two, draws 2nd foul on Hughes. Converts 3-point play. 38-34.

14:45: Krabby GETS ROLL ON one end, while Pringle answers on the other. 40-36.

13:56: J-Bo with a transition layup, pass from Krabby. Cringle answers once more.

13:28: Landry with bunny from right block. 44-38.

13:00: J-Bo forces jump ball on RB, possession arrow to Bucky. PSU showing 1-3-1 zone.

11:54: Landry on turnaround from left elbow. Restores halftime lead. 46-38.

10:42: Timeout on the floor. Penn State has challenged, but simply cannot close the gap. Outside of Cornley and Cringle, they have failed to hit open and contested jump shots. UW provided an opener during the first 10 minutes of this half, and now must close the door for good.

10:31: Pringle hits tough shot to close gap to 6.

9:53: UW with several looks at the basket, battles for RB to keep possession.

9:34: Krabby uses the glass from 5 feet away. Back to eight.

9:14: Pringle answers yet again from 3. Down to five.

8:53: landry misses from 3, Hughes called for reach-in on RB, his third.

8:36: Battle for 3, lead down to 2. Hughes failed to get hands up.

7:47: Penn State takes lead on another Pringle 3. Timeout Bucky. 11-2 PSU run. Score: 49-48.

7:22: Hughes answers bell (FINALLY) with a 3.

6:53: Pringle hits a ridiculous 3 to restore Penn State lead. 21 points for PSU guard.

6:30: Taylor draws foul on drive to the basket. Makes 1-2 from line to tie game. 52 all.

5:44: Pringle draws three shot foul on Taylor. Freshman mistake. Hits 2-3. 54-52 PSU. J-Bo replaces Taylor.

4:51: Landry with hugh post-up basket. Ties game at 54. Hughes needs to work within offense, especially with only the short strokes of the clock remaining in this nail-biter.

3:59: Timeout on the floor after both teams fail to convert. Hughes takes a tough shot in the paint, once again not an ideal decision. Leuer and/ or Landry should touch the ball every possession from here on out. Penn State has never won at the Kohl, but they have a prime opportunity today. Time for Bucky to tighten up on D and convert with solid looks at the basket during the remaining handful of offensive possessions.

3:36: Bucky grabs RB after a series of PSU misses on contested J's, including a Morrisey three from long-range.

3:22: Timeout UW. Bo to draw up go-ahead basket.

3:02: Hughes for 3 with shot clock winding down. Forget all of my criticism this far. ;) 57-54.

1:55: Penn State foul on Cornley as he battles with Krabby for loose ball with 1 second on shot block. The bulldog converts both for double-double (10 points, 10 boards).

1:42: Cornley converts layup, draws foul on Landry. Epic battle today between these two forwards. Hits FT for 3-point play. 59-57.

1:18: Pingle fouls Hughes on perimeter. Bo playing offense-defense with Bohannan and Taylor. Hughes hits both for 4-point lead. 61-57. UW 12-14 from FT line.

1:12: Timeout Penn State. DeChellis still seeking first win versus UW in six seasons. He'll need some late magic to reverse this equation.

0:59: Pringle drills contested 3 to make it a 1-point game. Career-high 27. Taylor burned by going for steal on pass off of screen. 61-60.

0:53.9: Timeout WI.

0:38.9: Landry backs in and scores off glass. 21 for senior F. 63-60.

0:13.1: Battle draws foul on dribble drive from left on Krabby. Misses first, hits second. 2-point Wisconsin lead. Timeout PSU.

0:07.8: Landry scores on dunk, draws foul. Hughes broke press perfectly as backcourt trap failed to arrive. Misses FT.

FINAL. UW 65 PSU 61. Bucky survives a close shave. Penn State showed they have some weapons, and Bucky played with poise down the stretch. Landry tied a career-high with 23. Wisconsin is now 31-1 when he scores in double figures. There is no question that the team goes as the senior forward does. His long absences against Marquette and Texas illustrate this point. Krabby was solid as always, and J-Bo played well on the perimeter. Hughes was largely absent on offense most of the game, but came up big late. Leuer simply looks to score every time he catches the ball. I look for him to play a bigger role as the season progresses. Taylor played important minutes, even late in the game, earning more as January yields to February and March. In the end, Bucky takes care of business and is 2-0 in the league with Northwestern on deck at the Kohl.