MADISON, Wis. _ Winning ugly is becoming a habit for Wisconsin.
But how long can the No. 10 Badgers keep flirting with danger?
One burst of efficient offense, timely free throws and two huge defensive plays from Ethan Happ were enough to give UW a hard-fought 65-60 victory over Indiana and sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.
UW hit 7 of 8 free-throw attempts in the final 51.7 seconds but the victory wasn't secure until UW got the ball inbounds and Nigel Hayes was fouled with five-tenths of a second left.
Hayes made both free throws to close the scoring and UW, which came in at 65.7 percent from the line, finished 23 of 31 (74.2 percent).
One day after losses by No. 2 Kansas, No. 3 Baylor, No. 5 Arizona, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 11 Virginia and No. 12 West Virginia, UW prevailed despite shooting just 23.5 percent from 3-point range (4 of 17) and 39.6 percent overall (19 of 48).
The Badgers also had 16 turnovers and only nine assists.
Nevertheless, UW (20-3, 9-1 Big Ten) is one game ahead of Maryland (20-3, 8-2), 1 { games ahead of Purdue (19-5, 8-3) and two games ahead of Northwestern (18-5, 7-3) in the Big Ten standings.
The Hoosiers (15-9, 5-6) lost for the third time in four games, all on the road.
Indiana is 2-15 against UW under Tom Crean and the Hoosiers are 1-15 at the Kohl Center.
The lone victory came on Jan. 25, 1998 _ in Dick Bennett's third season as head coach and the second game played at the Kohl Center.
UW has played 40 games since sitting at 1-4 in the Big Ten and 9-9 overall last season. The Badgers are 33-7 in those games, including 20-3 in Big Ten regular-season games.
Happ hit 8 of 10 shots and 4 of 7 free-throw attempts to lead UW with 20 points. He added seven rebounds and two key steals late.
Hayes hit just 4 of 14 shots but made 7 of 8 free-throw attempts and finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Bronson Koenig, battling a left-leg injury, added 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Zak Showalter hit a critical 3-pointer to give UW a 58-50 lead with 1 minute 37 seconds left, added five points and three rebounds.
Reserve guard Brevin Pritzl gave UW a solid performance late and finished with six points in 12 minutes. Pritzl hit 4 of 4 free-throw attempts.
Guard Josh Newkirk led three Indiana players in double figures with 22 points. Center Thomas Bryant added 11 points but only two came in the second half.
The Hoosiers were without two key players _ James Blackmon Jr. and OG Anunoby. Blackmon Jr., the Hoosiers' leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, missed his third consecutive game because of an apparent leg injury.
Anunoby (11.1 ppg) suffered a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 18 at Penn State.
Both teams in the opening half struggled to move the ball for quality shots and hit shots when given the opportunity
UW held a 27-24 lead at the break despite turning the ball over eight times, shooting 20 percent from 3-point range (2 of 10) and 34.6 percent overall (9-26) and scoring just five points in the final 8:16 of the half.
UW's final offensive possession of the half epitomized the Badgers' frustration.
After offensive rebounds by Hayes and Showalter kept the possession alive, Koenig saw the ball poked away as he was making a move near the key and the shot clock expired before he could retrieve the ball and shoot it.
Indiana was equally inept.
The Hoosiers hit 3 of 13 3-pointers (23.1 percent) and 9 of 27 shots overall (33.3 percent) and turned the ball over eight times.
They fought back to even, 24-24, on two free throws by De'Ron Davis.
Koenig's 3-pointer, after Hayes rebounded his miss from beyond the arc, gave UW the 3-point advantage.
The Badgers' held a 35-33 lead midway through the second half when their offense finally warmed a bit.
UW scored on five consecutive possessions, with four baskets coming in the lane.
Pritzl started the 12-7 run with a drive from the wing and Happ finished it with a lay-in for a 47-40 lead with 7:21 remaining.
Happ provided two of the biggest defensive plays of the game, in a little more than a minute with the outcome still in the balance.
First Happ stole a wing feed and drove in for a dunk to give UW a 54-48 lead with 3:33 left.
Then with UW's lead at 54-50, Happ went up with Robert Johnson (11 points) and took the ball out of his hands and then called timeout with 2:34 left before he fell out of bounds.
That led to Hayes hitting 1 of 2 free throws for a five-point lead with 2:12 left.
After an Indiana miss, Showalter buried a 3-pointer from the right corner with 1:37 left to push the lead to 58-50.
Pritzl hit two free throws with 51.7 seconds left to give UW 60-52 led but Newkirk buried a 3-pointer to pull the Hoosiers within 60-55 with 41.6 seconds left.
After an Indiana timeout, Vitto Brown missed a lay-in in transition and Newkirk hit two free throws with 28.6 seconds left.
UW's lead was 60-57.
Koenig was fouled on the in-bound and hit both attempts to push the lead to 62-57 with 25.8 seconds left.
Koening was fouled after a miss by Newkirk and made 1 of 2 attempts for a 63-57 lead with 15.8 seconds left.
