LINCOLN, Neb. _ Greg Gard's team continues to parlay a risky but effective victory formula: shoot poorly, win ugly.
Wisconsin struggled to score for the fourth consecutive game but once more avoided an upset on Thursday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The fifth-ranked Badgers this time needed overtime to subdue Nebraska, 70-69, thanks largely to a huge three-pointer by Nigel Hayes with 18.4 seconds left.
Hayes' basket gave UW the one-point lead and Ethan Happ then stuffed a drive by Tai Webster, corralled the ball and called timeout with 3.3 seconds left.
Hayes was fouled with 2.2 seconds left. He was 7 of 9 from the line to that point but missed the first attempt. He missed the second and Nebraska's Michael Jacobson grabbed the rebound but Happ poked the ball loose from behind and time expired.
Whew!
UW (21-3, 10-1 Big Ten) maintained its 1{-game lead in the league by recording its eighth consecutive victory.
The Badgers' lone Big Ten loss came on Jan. 8 at Purdue.
Purdue (20-5, 9-3) moved into sole possession of second place with a 69-64 victory over Indiana on Thursday.
Maryland (20-4, 8-3), which has lost its last two games but was idle Thursday, is alone in third place.
Nebraska (10-14, 4-8) welcomed back forward Ed Morrow, who had missed the previous seven games because of a foot injury, but fell for the eighth time in nine games.
Hayes scored 20 points, 18 in the second half and overtime. He hit 7 of 11 free throws. UW hit 16 of 24 overall, 10 of 13 over the final 12 minutes 46 seconds.
Zak Showalter hit 4 of 6 three-pointers and added 15 for UW. Bronson Koenig added 12 and Happ finished eight points and 14 rebounds for UW, which shot just 36.5 percent (23 of 63) and surrendered 20 offensive rebounds.
Webster scored 19 points and Glynn Watson Jr. added 15 to lead Nebraska.
Jacobson, 3 of 21 from three-point range entering the night, buried a jumper from beyond the arc with three-tenths of a second left in regulation to forge a 58-58 tie. Jacobson's last three-point attempt was on Dec. 28 against Indiana. He finished with 10 points for the Cornhuskers, who turned the ball over 22 times.
The first half featured ugly offensive basketball on both sides.
Nebraska hit 2 of 8 three-pointers, 10 of 29 shots overall and turned the ball over 11 times and trailed by just 25-24 at the break.
How?
Because UW, which hit 4 of its first 9 shots, reverted back to its freeze-dried offense for the remainder of the half.
The Badgers went 5 of 20 after their hot start, including 1 of 8 from three-point range.
The second half wasn't any prettier as both teams struggled to score.
Showalter buried a three-pointer to give UW a 56-53 lead with 2:30 left, but the Badgers failed to hold the lead.
UW came up the ball after a Nebraska miss, but Koenig was called for a 10-second violation with 2:03 left.
Watson Jr. hit two free throws with 1:20 left to cut UW's lead to 56-55.
After Koenig missed a jumper, D'Mitrik Trice tied up Ed Morrow and UW got the ball with 41.6 seconds left.
UW called a timeout with 28 seconds left, including 17 on the shot clock.
Hayes got the ball late in the clock and hit a tough turnaround with 13.2 seconds left to give UW a 58-55 lead.
After a Nebraska timeout, Jacobson gave his team life.
Hayes and Happ took that life away and helped UW survive again.
