STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- After a rare loss at home, Wisconsin hit the road and got right back to its winning ways.
Kammron Taylor scored 20 points to lead the 18th-ranked Badgers to a 76-50 victory over Penn State on Saturday night, four days after their 38-game home winning streak was snapped by No. 1 Illinois.
With leading scorer Alando Tucker out of the lineup because of a right foot injury, Taylor carried the load, shooting 7-for-14 and finishing one point short of his career high. Mike Wilkinson and Clayton Hanson each scored 11 points.
"We've played without Alando before," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "And somebody else's misfortune is somebody else's fortune. (The players) know if we want to be a competitive team, somebody better pick it up and not just fill the spot, but pick it up and do some good things."
That "somebody" turned out to be Taylor, a sophomore guard starting his sixth career game. Taylor's 35 minutes were the most of his career, and he took advantage in a game that the Badgers (14-4, 5-2 Big Ten) dominated.
Wisconsin was efficient on both ends of the court, shooting 31-of-58 from the floor while limiting the Nittany Lions (7-13, 1-6) to 18-of-51 shooting.
"By far, that was probably my best game," Taylor said. "Not just with the points, but I had no turnovers."
Aaron Johnson had his ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Penn State. Geary Claxton added 12 points.
The Badgers used a 12-0 run over a four-minute span in the first half to turn a three-point game into a 30-15 advantage. Wisconsin led 41-25 at the break.
Penn State had a 6-0 run early in the second half to close to 45-31, but the Badgers countered by scoring on their next three possessions and led by as many as 27 with 10 minutes remaining.
"We picked a really, really bad night to play the worst game I think we've played in a long time," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "It's tough catching a team like that after they lose a game at home. We had no answers tonight. They beat us in every fashion."
If the Badgers missed Tucker and his 14.8 points per game, it didn't show. Tucker aggravated a right foot injury during the second half of the Badgers' loss to the Illini and did not practice leading up to the game against Penn State.
Wisconsin spread things around with ease and protected the ball well, tallying 11 assists to just one turnover in the first half. Ryan was particularly impressed with the play of Taylor and his lack of turnovers.
"He's a good player," Ryan said. "He's quick, he can penetrate. He took advantage of his opportunities and took care of the ball. He got to places where not too many guys on our team can get to when he puts it on the floor and penetrates."
Taylor was able to work the ball inside and out, getting most of his points by slashing toward the basket, but also hitting two 3-pointers.
"Tonight was our night," Taylor said. "We didn't rush anything and we showed we could move the ball around."
