The Wisconsin Badgers struggled offensively, but found a way to knock off the Indiana Hoosiers 65-60 in Big Ten play on Sunday.
The win is the 7th straight for Wisconsin (20-3, 9-1 Big Ten) and moved them into first place by themselves, a game in front of Maryland, who lost on Saturday.
The Badgers had 16 turnovers and shot just 39.6% from the field (19 of 48) and 23% from three-point range (4 of 17). But Wisconsin hit 7 of 8 free-throw attempts in the final 51.7 seconds to help secure the win.
The Hoosiers (15-9, 5-6) lost for the third time in four games. Indiana is now 2-15 under coach Tom Crean against Wisconsin and 1-15 at the Kohl Center.
Ethan Happ hit 8 of 10 shots from the field and 4 of 7 at the free throw line to lead the Badgers with 20 points.
Nigel Hayes hit just 4 of 14 from the field but made 7 of 8 free throw attempts to finish with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Wisconsin also got some help off the bench from reserve guard Brevin Pritzl, who finished with six points in 12 minutes. He was perfect (4 for 4) at the free throw line.
The Badgers held Indiana 22 points under their scoring average, but the Hoosiers played without two key players, James Blackmon Jr. and OG Anunoby.
Anunoby is out for the season with a knee injury and was averaging 11.1 points a game. Blackmon missed his third straight game with a leg injury. He is averaging 17.6 points a game.
The Badgers play at Nebraska on Thursday.
AUDIO: Greg Gard on getting the offense back on track :23
AUDIO: Greg Gard on his teams win :12
Badgers climb in Top 25 poll
Wisconsin moved from 10th to 7th in this weeks A.P. Top 25 College Basketball poll. They’re one of three Big Ten teams in the top 25.
Purdue is 16th and Maryland dropped to number-21.
