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The Nittany Lions are up six points over the Wisconsin Badgers heading into halftime.
The Penn State Nittany Lions turned in a defensive gem in the first half of Tuesday night's game against the Wisconsin Badgers. In a performance reminiscent of their 36-33 loss to the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten Tournament last season, the Badgers shot just 27 percent from the field, including 2-for-11 on 3-pointers. Penn State leads 23-17 at intermission.
Penn State has done just enough on the offensive end against the college basketball's No. 1-ranked scoring defense. Jermaine Marshall led the way with 10 points on 5-for-7 from the field. Tim Frazier had just four points, but has given the Badgers fits with his quickness, notching six assists so far.
Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin's leading score on the season, has just five points on the night. The Nittany Lions have done a great job of forcing the Badgers to settle for missed 3-point attempts late in the shot clock.
For more on the Nittany Lions, head over to the SB Nation blog Black Shoe Diaries. For more on the Badgers, check out Bucky's 5th Quarter.
The Penn St. Nittany Lions will try to knock of their second straight top 25 opponent at home Tuesday, as they host No. 19-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in a Big Ten Conference men's basketball game at the Bryce Jordan Center (8 p.m. on Big Ten Network). The Nittany Lions (10-12, 2-7 Big Ten) have lost two straight since knocking off then No. 22-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini, Jan. 19., while the Badgers (17-5, 6-3) have won five straight.
After knocking off Illinois, Penn State hit the road to play two tough opponents -- No. 20 Indiana Hoosiers and No. 3 Ohio St. Buckeyes -- in back-to-back games. The Nittany Lions were blown out in both contests and have fallen to 1-5 in their last six games.
Despite his team's poor play, junior guard Tim Frazier has averaged 19.8 points per game in his last five, and currently leads the Nittany Lions in scoring with 17.9 ppg. Frazier also is tops on the team with 4.8 rebounds per game and 6.3 assists per game.
Meanwhile, after enduring a three-game losing streak from Dec. 31-Jan. 8, the Badgers have rallied of five straight victories and cracked the top 20 in the AP Poll.
During the five-game run, senior guard Jordan Taylor is averaging 15.0 ppg and 5.6 rpg. Overall, Taylor is averaging 13.9 and 4.2.
For more on Nittany Lion basketball, check out the SB Nation blog Black Shoe Diaries.
Wisconsin Vs. Penn State Final Score: Nittany Lions Struggle In Second Half, Fall 52-46 At Home
The Wisconsin Badgers picked up their aggressiveness in the second half, foiling what had been a solid defensive effort by the Penn State Nittany Lions in the first half. Jordan Taylor scored 13 of his 18 points to lead the Badgers to a 52-46 win on Tuesday night.
The Nittany Lions did a nice job of forcing the Badgers to take 3-pointers in the first half. In the second they simply could not keep Taylor off of the free throw line. The senior point guard went 8-for-10 from the charity stripe to make up for an otherwise mediocre 4-for-12 performance from the field.
Penn State point guard Tim Frazier had 21 points in the loss, 17 of which came in the second half. He got there on 8-for-22 shooting, however. Jermaine Marshall scored just three points after intermission after a 10-points first half, going 1-4 from behind the 3-point arc.
For more on the Nittany Lions, head over to the SB Nation blog Black Shoe Diaries. For more on the Badgers, check out Bucky's 5th Quarter.
Jan 31 10:26p by Louis Bien