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

Or 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.

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.

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.

Top scorers Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor struggled all night, and it took nearly 36 minutes for Wisconsin (23-8) to get a third player in the scoring column. Taylor finished with 16 points and, fittingly, missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds to go. Leuer had 10 points.

The third-seeded Badgers were just 15 of 51 from the field and a dismal 2 of 21 from beyond the arc.

Sixth-seeded Penn State wasn’t much better offensively. The Nittany Lions finished 13 of 39 from the field and 3 of 12 from 3-point range.

Battle did break the school’s scoring record, which Jesse Arnelle set in 1955. Battle has 2,141 points, and Friday night his nine points were good enough.

The Nittany Lions (18-13) sure didn’t expect things to turn out this way after opening the game by making four of their first five shots, scoring 14 straight points and taking an 18-2 lead with 9:58 left in the first half.

No. 14 Louisville 83, No. 4 Notre Dame 77

At New York, Preston Knowles, despite playing the final 10 minutes of regulation and overtime with four fouls, scored 20 points to lead the Cardinals past the Fighting Irish and to a spot in the championship game of the Big East tournament.

Third-seeded Louisville (25-8) will face ninth-seeded and 21st-ranked Connecticut, which advanced with a 76-71 overtime win over Syracuse.

Ben Hansbrough, the conference player of the year, struggled through one of his worst games of the season for the Irish (26-6), who had won 12 of 13. The senior guard finished 3 of 16 from the field for 16 points.

No. 21 Connecticut 76, No. 11 Syracuses 71

At New York, Kemba Walker had 33 points and 12 rebounds in another phenomenal performance and the Huskies (25-9) held off the Orange in overtime in the Big East tournament semifinals.

Scoop Jardine had 20 points for the Orange (26-7), including a pair of 3-pointers at the end of regulation that sent the game to overtime.

St. Joseph’s 93, Duquesne 90

At Atlantic City, N.J., Carl Jones scored 28 points to give St. Joseph’s a 93-90 overtime victory over Duquesne in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament

Jones hit the go-ahead layup in overtime and added two late free throws as the 12th-seeded Hawks (11-21) advanced to the semifinal on Saturday against Dayton (21-12). The ninth-seeded Flyers stunned top-seeded and No. 18 Xavier 68-67 in the opening game at Boardwalk Hall.

Damian Saunders and Bill Clark had 21 points apiece for Duquesne (18-12), which lost for the seventh time in nine games. A last-second 3-point shot by T.J. McConnell hit off the front of the rim.