After back-to-back scoreless games, La Crosse native Jordan Davis didn’t start for the first time this season.
Regardless, the 6-foot-4, junior guard played 29 minutes and the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 63-60 win over Penn State.
Tyler Wahl made his return. Wisconsin’s leading scorer, who missed the past three games, went just 3-for-10 from the field, however, scoring 10 on the 25th anniversary of the Kohl Center opening.
Davis ended with four points on 2-for-7 shooting. He was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc, but did have six rebounds, an assist and no turnovers for the Badgers (12-5, 4-3 Big Ten).
Wisconsin fought back from a 36-30 halftime deficit with an 8-0 run out of the locker room — though it took the Badgers about 4 minutes to get those eight points.
Penn State (12-6, 3-4) also failed to score in the final 2:38, after cutting the Badgers lead down to 61-60. The Nittany Lions, who missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie, haven’t beaten Wisconsin since 1995.
Wisconsin is 23-2 all-time against Penn State at Wisconsin, which beat Northwestern 56-33 in the Kohl Center’s debut on Jan. 17, 1998.
Davis is averaging 6.1 points, 4.0 rebounds. He’s shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 30.5 percent from deep over 24.7 minutes a game.
TOP PHOTO: Penn State’s Jalen Pickett (22) gestures to a teammate as Wisconsin’s Jordan Davis (2) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)