BIG TEN Weary Wolverines snap streak

Michigan beat Penn State, 69-59, to end a three-game conference losing streak.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The road to the Big Ten men's basketball title is gritty, long and hard.
Michigan rebounded from a three-game conference losing streak Saturday, beating Penn State 69-59 for its first road win in conference. The Wolverines (11-5, 2-3 Big Ten) had previously lost road games at Michigan State and No. 19 Wisconsin in the last week.
"I just think it's very difficult in our league, in any league, for anybody to go on the road for three consecutive games. That's a brutal stretch in a conference like the Big Ten and things can change very quickly because of a stretch like that," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said.
"Your season can change on the drop of a dime. In fairness to all members of our conference, if we could eliminate that -- and in fairness to our kids -- that's the proper thing to do."
Lester Abram scored 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-3 from the 3-point line and 5-of-5 on free throws, to lead Michigan.
Penn State (8-8, 2-3) was trying to respond with its third home victory in conference play after two disastrous road losses to Michigan State and Illinois.
Pulling away
Michigan came out of halftime with a 10-point lead that the Nittany Lions twice cut to six points, the final time coming on a Jan Jagla 3-pointer with 16:50 left in the game. The Wolverines responded with a 15-6 run behind six points from Abram and five points from Dion Harris to give the Wolverines a 53-38 lead with just over eight minutes remaining. Penn State never managed to get closer than eight after that.
Following its 80-37 loss at Illinois on Wednesday, Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis said he thought his team would show more fight than it did.
"We just didn't click, we weren't on any cylinders and I just didn't feel the spirit I thought we needed to feel," DeChellis said. "I didn't feel it before the game and I told them that."
Daniel Horton, who was left out of the starting lineup for just the second time in 46 games at Michigan, scored four points and had a steal on the run. He finished the game with 13 points, five assists and two steals.
Marlon Smith led the Nittany Lions with 15 points, five assists and a career-high six rebounds. Jagla and Ndu Egekeze each scored 13.
No. 21 Wisconsin 76, Illinois 56
MADISON, Wis. -- Devin Harris scored a career-high 30 points and Mike Wilkinson added a career-high 24 for Wisconsin.
Harris and Wilkinson were a combined 19-of-30 from the field as the Badgers (13-3, 4-1 Big Ten) shot 52 percent to win their 24th straight home game and improve to 20-0 in conference home games under coach Bo Ryan.
Roger Powell scored a career-high 24 points to lead Illinois (12-5, 3-3), which has lost 11 of its last 12 games -- including five straight -- in Madison.
Indiana 86, Minnesota 81, OT
MINNEAPOLIS -- Bracey Wright scored 22 points and A.J. Moye added 20, including six in overtime, as Indiana send Minnesota to its fifth-straight Big Ten loss.
The Hoosiers (10-6, 4-1 Big Ten) led by as many as 18 points in the first half.
Sean Kline scored 13 points in the second half for Indiana. George Leach scored a season-high 12 points, all in the first half, and Marshall Strickland also had 12 for the Hoosiers.
Kris Humphries scored 24 points for the Gophers (8-9, 0-5) but finished 7-for-26 and missed two crucial free throws late in overtime.