Penn State visits Blackwell and No. 12 Wisconsin
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Badgers -11.5; over/under is 153.5
BOTTOM LINE: No. 12 Wisconsin hosts Penn State after John Blackwell scored 25 points in Wisconsin's 74-67 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Badgers have gone 14-2 in home games. Wisconsin scores 81.0 points while outscoring opponents by 10.6 points per game.
The Nittany Lions have gone 5-14 against Big Ten opponents. Penn State is ninth in the Big Ten with 22.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Yanic Konan Niederhauser averaging 4.1.
Wisconsin is shooting 46.4% from the field this season, 0.9 percentage points higher than the 45.5% Penn State allows to opponents. Penn State has shot at a 47.6% rate from the field this season, 5.8 percentage points greater than the 41.8% shooting opponents of Wisconsin have averaged.
The Badgers and Nittany Lions match up Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: John Tonje is scoring 19.1 points per game with 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Badgers. Blackwell is averaging 14 points and 6.3 rebounds over the past 10 games.
Adrian Baldwin Jr. is scoring 14.2 points per game and averaging 2.8 rebounds for the Nittany Lions. Zach Hicks is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Badgers: 7-3, averaging 77.9 points, 33.9 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 5.1 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.7 points per game.
Nittany Lions: 2-8, averaging 69.1 points, 27.6 rebounds, 13.4 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.6 points.
___
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Iowa football 2025 schedule preview: Week 7 vs Wisconsin
Coming off a bye in week 6, Iowa will head on the road for its second trophy game of the season: a matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers for the Heartland Trophy. Traditionally, whenever the Hawkeyes and Badgers got together on the gridiron, you could expect a hard-nosed, physical battle where whoever won the line of scrimmage won the game. However, it's a new era in Madison, and Wisconsin has changed the way it plays football drastically over the past few years. After the departure of Paul Chryst during the 2022 season, the Badgers hired former Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell to run their program. Fickell had a lot of success with the Bearcats, including leading them to a College Football Playoff appearance in 2021. Fickell brought a winning culture and a new brand of offense with him to Madison: the Air Raid. Gone are the days of Jonathan Taylor, Melvin Gordon, and Montee Ball running for 2000 yards in a season. The Air Raid aims to spread out opposing defenses and put a lot of pressure on them through the passing game. It works great if you have the quarterback and receivers to play in that system, which the Badgers haven't had the past few years. The Badgers' starting QBs the past two seasons have a combined 4002 passing yards with a 22/14 TD to INT ratio. The failure of the Air Raid offense has led to a couple of middling seasons under Fickell, going 7-6 with a bowl game loss in 2023 and 5-7 in 2024. The defense wasn't much better, forcing just eight turnovers last season. Now entering year three and with another new QB in town, the pressure is on for Fickell to win. Another bad season could result in major changes for the program. With all that being said, let's take a deep dive into Wisconsin in 2025 by talking about some key returners and exciting newcomers for the Badgers. Who are some of the key returners for Wisconsin? Who are some exciting newcomers for the Badgers? History between Iowa and Wisconsin Wisconsin leads the all-time series against Iowa 49-47-2. The Hawkeyes have won the last three in a row and four of the last five against the Badgers this decade. Before that run, Wisconsin had won seven of eight against Iowa in the 2010s. And before that, Iowa had won six out of eight in the 2000s. This series has been a pendulum, with both sides enjoying an extended run of success against the other. The Hawkeyes will look to keep their momentum against Wisconsin with another win. The Hawkeys won the last meeting in Madison 15-6 back in 2023. Before that victory, their last win in Madison was back in 2015, when they won 10-6 en route to a 12-0 regular season. This is a big game for Iowa, sandwiched between matchups with playoff teams from last season in Indiana and Penn State. Going on the road to Madison is tough, and Wisconsin will look to improve a lot this season. The Hawkeyes will need to play their best road game to come away with the Heartland Trophy for a fourth straight season. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Zach on X: @zach_hiney
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
James Franklin talks injury updates for Penn State
Coming off the longest season in Penn State history meant some injury situations lingered a little farther into the offseason than the program is accustomed to seeing. With training camp open in Happy Valley with big expectations placed on the program going into the 2025 season, Penn State head coach James Franklin says the health situations will start getting better in time for the season, with some exceptions. "[Some] of these guys are limited up there," Franklin said when meeting with the media on Saturday in Beaver Stadium. "They are ready to go and I think if you asked them, they could play in a game right now. But our trainers and doctors, you know, smart, we hold them in the limited category until they actually go out and do it." Franklin explained players were to be reevaluated following the first practice of the camp, and that could lead to some quick upgrades with player availability. Franklin did not show concern for a lengthy list of players showing up as limited at the moment. Among the players coming back from injury and standing out is offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh, who started 10 games for the Nittany Lions last season before being sidelined by an injury. Donkoh could be an option at multiple offensive line positions now that he is healthy and Nolan Rucci has proven himself at the right tackle position. That has given the entire offensive line a boost with depth in its favor with a healthy Donkoh in the mix. Of course, the injury updates were not all positive for Penn State this weekend. It has been reported that wide receiver and special teams returner Kaden Saunders will be out for an extended period of time with what has been reported as a long-term injury. Saunders was limited due to injury last season and could potentially be out for the entire 2025 season already. Penn State's 2025 season kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 30 with a home game against Nevada. Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads. This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: James Franklin says injury reports are improving at Penn State
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Iowa football QB Mark Gronowski ranked among the best in the nation
Can Mark Gronowski be the catalyst that forces the Iowa Hawkeyes and Tim Lester's offense to take the next steps in the maturation and success? That is the growing expectation surrounding the proven winner and two-time national champion transfer from the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. After foregoing the NFL and declining other Power 4 offers, Mark Gronowski joined the Iowa Hawkeyes with the chance to create something special. The jump from the FCS ranks, where he was one of, if not the best, quarterbacks in the nation, to the Big Ten is a drastic change, but one that many believe Gronowski can handle. Phil Steele is one of those who believe he can be the missing piece for Iowa. Phil Steele is high on Gronowski to the point that in his recent college football quarterback rankings, he has Mark Gronowski as No. 18 QB in all of college football, a spot that has him among some of the biggest household names in the Big Ten and all of the sport. The reason for the excitement makes sense. Gronowski dominated at the FCS level, winning back-to-back titles while stuffing the stat sheet. He threw for 10,330 yards and 93 touchdowns while protecting the ball with just 20 interceptions. He also ran for 1,767 yards and 37 more touchdowns on the ground. Big Ten quarterbacks also included in Steele's rankings are Penn State's Drew Allar at No. 6, UCLA's Nico Iamaleava at No. 8, Indiana's Fernando Mendoza at No. 14, and Illinois' Luke Altmyer at No. 17. Iowa State QB Rocco Becht cracked the top 10, coming in at No. 10. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7
