Washington ? Kirk Penney scored 19 points to lead five Wisconsin players in double figures and the Badgers prevailed in a game of runs Friday night, beating St. John’s 80-70 in the first round of the NCAA East Regional.

Freddie Owens added 18 points for the Badgers (18-12), while Devin Harris had 14 and Charlie Wills and Mike Wilkinson each had 10. The only other time Wisconsin was a No. 8 seed was in 2000, when the Badgers reached the Final Four.

The Badgers, one of the Big Ten’s four co-champions, came up with the game’s first run, 12-0, to take a 38-28 lead late in the first half and then answered every one the Red Storm (20-12) could muster.

Marcus Hatten had 28 points for St. John’s on 12-of-33 shooting, including 3-for-13 from 3-point range, while Anthony Glover added 17 and Donald Emanuel 13. Only three other players scored for the Red Storm, who lost for the fourth time in six games.

Glover hit a 3-pointer with less than a second to play in the first half to make it 38-31 and the Red Storm scored the first four points of the second half to get within three.

But Wisconsin scored the next eight points to go up 46-35 on a basket by Owens on a goaltending call with 16:13 to play.

St. John’s went to a zone press and flustered the reliable ball-handling Badgers. The Red Storm went on an 11-2 run to get within 48-46 on two free throws by Eric King with 12:30 to play.

But then it was Wisconsin’s turn as it scored 10 straight points to take what seemed to be a comfortable 58-48 lead with 8:39 to go.

The Red Storm had one last run in them, and got within 69-64 on a 3-pointer by Hatten with 2:57 left.

Wisconsin was able to close it out from the free-throw line for its seventh win in eight games.

The Badgers finished with nine turnovers, four below their season average and less than half of the 18.9 St. John’s forced in a game this season.