NEW YORK _ Greg Gard's basketball team, tied for first in the Big Ten and ranked No. 15 in the nation, looked like a mediocre unit for almost 40 minutes Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Facing unranked Rutgers, Wisconsin shot poorly and at times struggled to keep the ball out of the lane.
Led by Ethan Happ, UW overcame a nine-point deficit late in regulation and then controlled the overtime to escape with a 61-54 victory.
Happ scored seven points in the overtime and 15 of UW's last 29 and finished with a college-high 32 points. He hit 12 of 18 field-goal attempts and 8 of 16 free-throw attempts and added six rebounds and three assists.
Bronson Koenig added 10, four on free throws in the overtime, but made just 2 of 10 3-pointers and 2 of 13 shots overall.
UW made 3 of 25 3-point attempts (12.5 percent) and 20 of 60 shots overall (33.3 percent).
Nigel Hayes added seven points, a game-high 11 rebounds and four assists. He had five points in the overtime, as well as an assist on a basket by Happ.
The Badgers (18-3, 7-1 Big Ten) continued their run through the league with their fifth consecutive victory since suffering an 11-point loss Jan. 8 at Purdue.
UW won for the 14th time in the last 15 games overall and improved to 6-3 away from the Kohl Center this season (3-1 neutral site, 3-2 road).
Guards Corey Sanders and Nigel Johnson scored 15 and 13 points, respectively, for Rutgers.
Rutgers, which suffered a 20-point loss to UW in Madison, saw its record fall to 1-8 in the league and 12-10 overall.
The Scarlet Knights entered the day as the Big Ten's worst shooting team in league play but the Badgers appeared determined to steal that title.
The Badgers, shooting 40.2 percent from 3-point range and 46.4 percent overall in Big Ten play, looked as if they hadn't practiced shooting for weeks.
They made 1 of 13 3-pointers (8.3 percent), 5 of 25 shots overall (20 percent) and went the last 10:36 of the half without a field goal.
Koenig was 0 of 5 from 3-point range and 0 of 6 overall. Vitto Brown was 0 of 2 from 3-point range and 0 of 4 overall. Hayes was 0 of 2, leaving the trio a combined 0 of 10 for the half.
If not for the early burst of Happ, who scored 10 of his 11 points in the first 4:15, UW's deficit would have been greater than five points.
UW missed its last 12 field goal attempts of the half and lost the battle for points in the paint, 14-8 to Rutgers.
The Badgers missed their first six shots of the second half before Happ scored inside, with 16:44 left.
That ended UW's run of misses at 18 in a row and a span of 13:52.
Ouch.
