MADISON, Wis. _ Purdue has company atop the Big Ten standings.
Welcome back, Wisconsin.
With Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes dominating Maryland in the lane and from the free-throw line, the 11th-ranked Badgers overcame a horrible shooting performance in the first half and rallied for a 71-60 victory Sunday at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers (22-5, 11-3 Big Ten) ended their losing streak at two games and moved into a tie for first place with Purdue (22-5, 11-3).
Purdue holds the tiebreaker over UW because of its 66-55 victory over the Badgers earlier this season.
Maryland (22-5, 10-4), ranked No. 23, suffered its third loss in the last five games.
The Terrapins suffered only their second road loss in nine games this season, with the first coming against Penn State.
Happ and Hayes proved to be too much for the Terrapins' big men and combined for 41 points and 17 rebounds.
Hayes, who vowed to be more aggressive on offense, contributed 21 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. He hit just 6 of 15 field-goal attempts but hit 9 of 14 free-throw attempts.
Hayes capped the scoring and put an exclamation point on UW's victory with a breakaway dunk with 16.9 seconds left.
Happ battled foul trouble but added 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He hit 7 of 11 field-goal attempts and 6 of 11 free-throw attempts.
Senior guard Bronson Koenig, who missed the loss Thursday at Michigan because of a left-calf injury suffered Jan. 24, came off the bench and played 31 minutes.
He missed all three shots in the opening half but hit 4 of 8 shots after halftime and contributed nine points.
Guards D'Mitrik Trice and Brevin Pritzl added seven points apiece. Pritzl had five in the opening half; Trice had five in the second.
Pritzl's only basket in the second half was critical, however, as he tipped in a miss by Koenig to give UW a 62-52 lead with 5 minutes, 42 seconds left.
Zak Showalter, who picked up three fouls in the first half, added six points.
UW shot just 28 percent in the opening half (7 of 25) and faced a 33-27 deficit.
The Badgers shot 51.5 percent in the second half (17 of 33) and finished 21 of 37 from the free-throw line.
UW entered the day having shot less than 37 percent from 3-point range and less than 40 percent overall in five of its last six games.
Melo Trimble (27) was the only Maryland player who hurt UW consistently. He scored 15 points in the opening half.
Both teams struggled on offense in the opening half.
UW's issue was shooting, which has become a recurring theme.
The Badgers shot just 16.7 percent from 3-point range (1 of 6) and 28.0 percent overall (7 of 25) and had just two field goals in the final 12:14.
Hayes hit a jumper and Pritzl dunked off a feed from Happ.
Despite those ugly numbers, UW trailed by just 33-27 at the break.
UWs defense was solid for the most part and the Terrapins, who hit 6 of 12 3-pointers and 11 of 22 shots overall, committed 10 turnovers and 12 fouls.
UW attempted 21 free throws in the half but made only 12, a dismal 57.1 percent.
The Badgers also got into foul trouble as Showalter (three) and Khalil Iverson (two), the players best equipped to guard Trimble, picked up a combined five fouls.
After Happ made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:29 left to forge a 27-27, Trimble hit a contested 3-pointer with 1:11 left.
After Hayes missed a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down, Trimble buried another 3-pointer, this time with 33 seconds left, for a 33-27 lead.
UW surged at the start of the second half and outscored the Terrapins, 19-5, over the first 7:43.
Happ scored eight points and Koenig added seven to spark the run as UW built a 46-38 lead.
UW got into the bonus with 11:12 left and the double bonus with 9:31 left.
UW kept getting timely plays from a variety of sources and eventually built a 64-52 lead with 4:40 left.
Hayes and Trice hit jumpers to push the lead to 60-52 with 6:24 left.
After Trimble missed the first of bonus free throws for the second consecutive time, Pritzl soared down the lane to tip in a miss by Koeng with 5:42 left and the lead was 62-52.
After Hayes ripped the ball free from Damonte Dodd, Koenig buried a jumper for a 64-52 lead with 4:40 left.
Maryland had no answers down the stretch.
