MADISON, Wis. -- Nigel Hayes was a force going strong to the basket. Bronson Koenig returned from a leg injury to provide a jump-shooting boost off the bench.
No. 11 Wisconsin played like it was fighting to get into the NCAA Tournament, even if the Badgers are virtually guaranteed to be playing into mid-March.
Hayes scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half, and Ethan Happ had 20 points to beat No. 23 Maryland 71-60 in a choppy, foul-filled game on Sunday.
The Badgers (22-5, 11-3) overcame 27 points from Terrapins guard Melo Trimble to snap a two-game losing streak and stay in a tie atop the Big Ten standings with Purdue.
After consecutive losses to Northwestern and Michigan -- two squads looking to pad their resumes just to get into the NCAAs -- Wisconsin took the court with the mindset of a bubble team trying to prove a point.
"I would definitely say 'Yes,' that's kind of why we dropped the last two," Hayes said when asked if his team was playing with a sense of urgency.
Northwestern and Michigan "were fighting for their tournament lives, trying to build a resume," Hayes said. "We finally have that sense of urgency on our own end."
Koenig scored all nine of his points in the second half, giving the Badgers a lift with his jump shot after the senior missed a game with a nagging left calf injury. Wisconsin shot 51 percent in the second half.
Wisconsin pulled away slowly, turning a six-point halftime deficit into a 12-point edge with three minutes to go.
"Those guys just dominated," Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon said about forwards Hayes and Happ. "We couldn't guard them heads-up. We couldn't guard them in a double-team."
But they did draw whistles in a physical game at the loud, rowdy Kohl Center. The game lacked flow because of frequent foul calls. The schools combined for 48 fouls, 25 for Maryland (22-5, 10-4).
"Extremely physical. We'll be running the training room out of ice after the game," Wisconsin Coach Greg Gard said.
For a while, it looked like Trimble would carry Maryland to another road victory all by himself. He finished 9 of 17 from the field and regularly hit three-pointers from the wing.
But the Badgers held on despite Happ spending much of the second half on the bench saddled with four fouls. Hayes took up the slack with an active day in the paint, grabbing 10 rebounds.
Turgeon had seen enough and pulled Trimble from the game with 4:32 left and his team trailing by 12 points.
"He was tired," Turgeon said. "We've got four games in 10 days ... Wisconsin was in total control of the game."
No. 20 CREIGHTON 87, GEORGETOWN 70
OMAHA, Neb. -- Marcus Foster scored a career-high 35 points and Creighton broke open the game early in the second half.
Creighton (22-5, 9-5 Big East) shot 53 percent while avenging a 20-point road loss to the Hoyas on Jan 25. Georgetown (14-13, 5-9) shot just 38.5 percent in its first game since Feb. 11 and was 3 of 22 from three-point range.
Isaiah Zierden added 13 points and Justin Patton and Cole Huff had 10 apiece for the Bluejays.
L.J. Peak, held to two points over the first 16 minutes, finished with 23 to lead Georgetown.
No. 24 BUTLER 82, DEPAUL 66
INDIANAPOLIS -- Nate Fowler scored 15 points and Kelan Martin added 14 points and eight rebounds for Butler.
The Bulldogs (21-6, 10-5 Big East) won their second consecutive and retained their hold on second place in the conference standings.
Eli Cain had 24 points for DePaul (8-19, 1-13), which has lost 10 straight. Joe Hanel had 10 points.
DePaul led 27-22 with 4:52 to go in the first half but failed to score again until 17:11 was left in the game.
Butler took advantage of the drought with a 21-0 run that made it 43-27.
Sports on 02/20/2017