The Digital Collegian - Published independently by students at Penn State
SPORTS
[ Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004 ]

Badgers' Harris downfall of Lions

Collegian Staff Writer

Penn State and No. 22 Wisconsin basketball fans alike remember the Nittany Lions' 58-57 victory last season at the Bryce Jordan Center. The blue-and-white faithful rushed the court while the Badgers fans hung their heads.

Devin Harris remembers.

The Wisconsin guard turned in the best performance on his team that night, leading them with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting, all in a losing effort.

Last night at the Kohl Center, Harris would again lead his team by scoring a game-high 25 points, but this time the Badgers rolled over the Lions 68-45 as their losing streak ran to seven straight.

Men's basketball
Wisconsin 68
Penn State 45

"I thought [Harris] was great coming into the game," Penn State guard Marlon Smith said on the Penn State Sports Network. "He has no weaknesses. That's what great players do. The only thing we could possibly do was contain him and we couldn't do much about it."

The junior Harris keyed two critical runs by the Badgers (18-6, 9-4 Big Ten) early in both halves, the second one negating a spirited Penn State comeback. The Lions (9-15, 3-10) had overcome a 30-14 deficit with a 12-0 run that spanned into the second half before Harris put up six points in under two minutes.

"He's a very quick, very athletic

guy," Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis said of Harris. "He's always under control and plays within himself. He's a pretty special player."

The six points were part of 18-2 run that effectively killed the Lions' hopes of an upset in Madison, where the Badgers have not lost in 29 games.

In the first half, Harris helped the Badgers jump out to a 19-4 lead, hitting three three-point attempts and tallying 12 of those points.

His performance was reminiscent of the one Dee Brown of Illinois put up against the Lions last Saturday -- both hit stretches where every shot seemed to fall for them.

Jan Jagla turned in what was easily his best performance in weeks for the Lions, scoring 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Jagla carried the team in the first half, scoring 14 of its 22 points.

On the other side of the ball, Wisconsin's big man Mike Wilkinson, who had a nightmarish performance in last year's loss going 3-for-13, helped redeem himself this time around, scoring 14 points on a very efficient 6-for-10 shooting and had a game-high nine rebounds.

The 2-3 zone that the Lions have utilized for the better part of the season was torn apart on the road again as the Badgers were flawless early on from behind the arc. The hot initial outside shooting continued a rough trend for the Lions, who have seen Big Ten opponents shoot well above their averages when facing off against them.

Smith, despite being held off of the scoresheet in the opening 20 minutes, recorded 15 points in the second half. Points were again hard to come by for the Lions.

"We can't score 45 points and expect to win," DeChellis said.

 



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