BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. —
Micah Potter's teammates accomplished something here Saturday afternoon that No. 20 Penn State couldn't. They cooled him off.
"When Micah came into the locker room, everybody threw water on him," Kobe King said of the impromptu post-game celebration after Potter scored a career-high 26 points and collected 13 rebounds to help lift Wisconsin to a wire-to-wire 58-49 victory.
When Potter entered the Badger locker room later than the others after conducting an on-court Big Ten Network interview, King noted the reaction was largely because, "We were happy for him in just seeing what he has gone through with the whole NCAA thing and having to sit out.
"In fighting it (the appeal process after transferring from Ohio State), I know he would get frustrated at times. And to see him have a game like that and how we all came together and supported him,"it showed how tight we are and how we keep each other motivated."
After the Badgers snapped the Nittany Lions' 13-game winning streak at the Bryce Jordan Center — which included five straight over Big Ten opponents and was one shy of the school record set 24 years ago when the facility opened — Penn State coach Patrick Chambers gave credit where credit was due.
"Wisconsin played a great game," said Chambers, who saw his team drop their 13th consecutive game to the Badgers who have won 26 of the last 28 in the series and eight straight in Happy Valley. "They do what they do. They got stops and they got some major production from Potter."
It wasn't like Potter wasn't in the Penn State scouting report even though he had played in just five previous games at Wisconsin. "We played him as a shooter," Chambers said. "But obviously he has got a high release and he's every bit of 6-foot-10 or 6-11. He was on fire. He made some big-time shots."
There was no denying the sense of urgency coming off a disappointing home loss to Illinois in which the Badgers squandered a seven-point lead over the final five minutes at the Kohl Center. And there was no denying Potter, either. He had 18 points over the first 12 minutes of Saturday's game.
"I've always been able to shoot, that has kind of been my M.O. since I was in high school, I was a shooter," said Potter, a Mentor, Ohio native. "I don't know what it was, but they went in. Once they started closing on me a little harder in the second half, I was able to drive …"
Because he was "on fire" and Nate Reuvers got into foul trouble, Potter played extended minutes (a little over 27; his previous high was 19). He made 9-of-14 shots, 4-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc and both of his free-throw attempts (he's now 16-of-16 from the stripe this season).
In 59 games at Ohio State, he was 23-of-71 from the 3-point line (.324). He went 3-of-4 against North Carolina Central in 2016, the second outing of his college career. But he didn't have more than one triple in any other appearance. His career high had been 17 points against Texas Southern.
So, what did it feel like to be in the zone against Penn State?
"It was like, 'finally,'" Potter said with a deep sigh. "It was the kind of rhythm I've been looking for since I came back (regaining his eligibility). But it takes time to get into a rhythm. Obviously, a lot of people, including me, wanted me to come back and be my best right away. And that's just not possible."
None of his UW teammates were surprised by Potter's range.
"He's my shooting partner during practice," said guard Brad Davison. "We go to the gym all the time and shoot together. When he's got the hot hand, we've got to keep finding him."
"We've always known that Micah can shoot," added guard Brevin Pritzl. "Today was one of those days where he was locked in from the jump and it paid a lot of dividends."
Gard had a different sight line from the sidelines.
"There were a couple of 'Oh no's' when he shot," he said, chuckling. "But he got confident. That's a big thing with players. Confidence for the most part is about 99 percent internally generated."
With Potter's ability to stretch the defense, it put an inordinate amount of pressure on Penn State's low-post defenders. Mike Watkins, PSU's 24-year-old, 6-foot-9 senior who has 249 career blocks, didn't look comfortable following Potter out to the 3-point line.
It showed in his overall game, too. Watkins, who had been averaging 11 points and 9 rebounds, played only 15 minutes and went scoreless (0-for-3). He finished with four rebounds and three turnovers. A few years ago, he had 22 points and seven blocked shots against the Badgers.
"That's tough for a lot of bigs, including me and Nate," Potter said of executing perimeter defense. "Obviously bigger guys aren't naturally as quick. Being able to stretch the floor makes it a lot easier for us, but also the guards who are trying to get into the paint.
"It takes the bigs out of there, so it opens up the floor."
The perfect example is Davison who had a career-high 13 rebounds, 11 on the defensive end, to go along with 11 points for his first career double-double.
"I didn't even know that I had that many (rebounds)," he said. "Our bigs did a great job of boxing out Watkins and (Lamar) Stevens. We always talk about guards coming down and cleaning it up. I was in the lane a lot with my defensive assignment, so I just tried those little things to help us win."
Despite missing 35 of 52 shots, the Nittany Lions had just six offensive rebounds.
"There are a lot of teams that pride themselves on offensive rebounding and getting those second chances," Davison said. "It's something we try to limit. Those are always big momentum plays. There's nothing worse than playing 25 good seconds of defense and then giving them 20 more."
Davison's tenacity is undeniable in 50/50 situations.
"Oh, my goodness," Potter exclaimed, "that's something you've got to love about Brad — his fight and his will to play like that every single game regardless of how well he's playing."
What was Potter most proud of Saturday? His 3-pointers or his rebounding at Penn State?
"Always rebounding," he stressed. "Shots are going to come and go, but rebounding is something you can do every time and that's something I pride myself on, rebounding the basketball."
After losing their first five games outside of Madison, the Badgers have rebounded nicely with road victories over Tennessee, No. 5 Ohio State and now No. 20 Penn State. They will return home Tuesday night for an 8 p.m. game against Maryland at the Kohl Center.
"Getting that monkey off our back was big," said King, who's averaging 17 points and shooting 66 percent in five Big Ten games. "We were just finding our way as a team a little bit after losing two big pieces (Ethan Happ and Khalil Iverson). We were just finding a way to gel. Now, we're riding that wave."
