INDIANAPOLIS -- Talor Battle looked better than anyone else on the ugliest night in Big Ten tournament history.

At least he scored when nobody else could.

The record-breaking guard finished with a team-high nine points Friday, hitting a 3-pointer and a free throw in the closing minutes to give Penn State a 36-33 victory over No. 13 Wisconsin in the lowest-scoring game in the event's 14 years.

And it wasn't even close.

The previous tourney low was 85 points, set in 2008 when Wisconsin beat Michigan 51-34. The Badgers have been involved in four of the tourney's six lowest-scoring games, though none of the others looked as though they should have been played in the era of peach baskets and set shots.

"We won a game two years ago 38-33 over Illinois, so we're pretty good in the 30s," Battle said.

That's not what the fans at Conseco Fieldhouse expected to see Friday night, and it's certainly not what the nation wants to see in next week's NCAA tournament.

But if the Nittany Lions win Saturday's semifinal against Michigan State, the selection committee might have to think about putting surging Penn State (18-13) in the 68-team field anyway. The Spartans defeated No. 9 Purdue 74-56 earlier Friday.

The Nittany Lions have won two straight tourney games for the first time in school history -- though it may be advisable to avoid watching the replay on tape.

"It wasn't boring to me," Tim Frazier said with a laugh. "Every possession meant that much more to us. Every single play was that much more meaningful. It wasn't boring at all to us."

Still, it was inexplicable.

The Badgers came to Indianapolis hoping to face No. 1 Ohio State a third time. Instead, they left with long faces and dumbfounded looks, trying to figure out what went wrong.