Minnesota Minnesota/Wisconsin Wisconsin Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

But it was Kelley's presence that made the difference in the game, said Wisconsin coach Brad Soderberg, who didn't know until gametime whether he'd have his floor leader.

Kelley sprained an ankle Monday and missed practice Tuesday. His ankle was heavily wrapped for the game, requiring him to wear a larger shoe on the right foot.

"It all starts with Mike," said Soderberg. "That was a big time performance. That's the stuff you can't coach. He's just an incredible athlete with incredible toughness. He definitely sets the tone for the rest of the team with his toughness."

Kelley, who has not missed a game in his four-year career, played 29 minutes and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to go with seven points, three assists and two steals.

"He was very inspirational for us," said Penney. "We all knew how much he was hurting, but it just means so much for us to have him out on the floor."

It also meant a lot for Wisconsin to have Penney on the floor.

The Badgers (17-7, 8-5 Big Ten) were in danger of getting blown out as the Gophers came out sizzling, jumping to a 20-7 lead. They hit eight of their first 10 shots, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

Minnesota was leading 25-13 when Penney caught fire. The sophomore guard from New Zealand hit five straight shots, four of them 3-pointers, to spark the 17-1 run that put Wisconsin ahead 30-26.

That's the kind of offense Soderberg has come to expect from Penney, who leads the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage.

"When I went to Auckland to recruit him, I saw him score 30 and 33 in two of the three games, and that was with the international (3-point) line," Soderberg said. "When I saw that I knew that if he just came here and could knock down some shots, he would be valuable. His confidence was very high in the first half."

Minnesota's confidence also was soaring in the early going as the Gophers picked up where they left off after scoring 93 points in a victory over Michigan on Saturday.

But after scoring 23 points in the first nine minutes, the Gophers managed just 31 points the rest of the game. And after their 8-for-10 start shooting, they shot just 28 percent.

"I think we ran out of gas offensively," Minnesota coach Dan Monson said. "I think we got worn down and stood around a lot after that. And a lot of the credit goes to Wisconsin and their defense. It's a tough chore to score against them."

Not tough enough to suit Soderberg, at least in the early going.

"Our defense is what allows us to win games," said Kelley, "and he reminded us of that. Minnesota came out shooting the 3 really well – some were contested and some not. But we knew we had to step it up on the defensive end. Then, when Kirk started hitting those 3s, that's when our defense really picked up."

Terrance Simmons scored 23 points to lead Minnesota (17-10, 5-9). Kevin Burleson added 14 points and Dusty Rychart grabbed 12 rebounds.

Roy Boone scored 12 points for Wisconsin, which moved into a third-place tie with Ohio State in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin played without guard Ricky Bower, sitting out the second game of his four-game NCAA suspension.

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