Penn State's thrilling victory over Wisconsin Wednesday night was a study in redemption.

The Nittany Lions produced a 32-point swing, from an embarrassing 86-55 loss to the Badgers on Feb. 1 to an exciting and gratifying 58-57 win just 19 days later.

Penn State corrected their numerous errors from the first game. Instead of getting blown out at the start, like they have been so many times this year, Penn State was strong early.

The Lions played tough defense, especially on the perimeter, holding star Wisconsin guard Kirk Penney to 13 points on just 4-for-14 shooting.

They also made clutch shots to both keep them in the game and to secure their first Big Ten conference victory of the year.

For the Lions, a lot of things came together at a time when they needed it the most.

"The difference was we played 40 minutes of basketball instead of a half or 30," junior guard Sharif Chambliss said.

Chambliss, who made two huge threes down the stretch, gained some personal redemption. He is from Racine and has lost to the Badgers three times in his career.

Tomorrow night at 9, the Lions will take the floor of Williams Arena in Minnesota with redemption and revenge still on their minds.

The last time the Lions (6-16, 1-10 Big Ten) and Gophers (15-7, 7-4) got together Penn State threw away a late-game lead with tentative, indecisive play when they had a chance to put the game away.

Savvy Minnesota dictated the end of the game and walked out of the Bryce Jordan Center with a 76-75 nailbiting win the Gophers probably didn't deserve.

In a very similar situation on Wednesday, the Lions looked like a different team.

Penn State played without fear with the game in the balance. Chambliss took both of his three-pointers with confidence and freshman DeForrest Riley showed no hesitation whatsoever as he knifed to the basket and scored and he looked calm as he sunk the game-clinching free throw.

As Riley progressed to the basket he showed the smarts and the courage to switch the ball from his left hand to his right in mid-air, enabling him to both score and draw the foul for the winner.

It was a senior play coming from a freshman.

"I'm very confident in DeForrest," Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn said.

"He's very mature and he has a great internal competitiveness about him, what he did on that drive, he does in practice all of the time."

The same type of gusto and fearlessness will be needed tomorrow from everyone.

Williams Arena has not been kind to Penn State. Penn State is 1-8 all time in the old gym and many of those losses have been ugly.

But they don't get much uglier than 86-55 and the Lions believed in their talents enough to turn that around.

Tomorrow's game can now be looked at as an opportunity instead of a potential disaster.

It's amazing what one well-timed win can do.