Wisconsin overcomes Ethan Happ's foul trouble to get badly needed win

Wisconsin snapped a two-game losing streak with a victory over Maryland. (AP)

Nine minutes remained in his team’s biggest game of the season so far, and Wisconsin coach Greg Gard couldn’t hide his frustration.

Just when it seemed the Badgers were about to pull away from fellow Big Ten title contender Maryland, star center Ethan Happ needlessly picked up his fourth foul swiping at the ball more than 25 feet away from the basket.

When Gard pulled Happ out of the game to avoid him picking up a fifth foul, Wisconsin was clinging to a seven-point lead. By the time the Happ returned to the floor nearly six minutes later, the Badgers had increased their lead to 12 and were well on their way to an impressive 71-60 victory.

That crunch-time stretch without Happ was the biggest key to a Wisconsin victory that halted a two-game losing streak and kept the Badgers from falling into third place in the Big Ten.

Nigel Hayes had seven of his team-high 21 points while Happ was on the bench, stepping up in a manner that he failed to do in Wisconsin’s previous game. The senior forward had only six points on 3-for-7 shooting in a loss at Michigan on Thursday night even though Happ was constantly double-teamed and standout point guard Bronson Koenig was sidelined by a calf injury.

It also helped Wisconsin that Maryland star Melo Trimble uncharacteristically clanked three free throws while Happ was on the bench, the latter two of which were both front ends of 1-and-1s. Trimble scored 27 points and kept the Terps competitive most of the afternoon, but the 82.8 percent foul shooter’s struggles at the line short-circuited any realistic hope of a Maryland comeback.

Wisconsin had been in control of the Big Ten race before its back-to-back losses to Michigan and Northwestern created a three-way tie atop the league. Co-Big Ten leader Purdue routed Michigan State already this weekend, meaning that the winner between the Badgers and Terps would keep pace with the Boilermakers and the loser would fall to third place.

Wisconsin’s remaining schedule is a tad more favorable than Purdue’s, but the Badgers will have to fix their recent scoring woes to take advantage. They had averaged less than 40 percent from the field in their previous six games and they shot just 41.4 percent from the field in Sunday’s victory.

Fortunately for Wisconsin, its defense was solid against Maryland, holding every player but Trimble to 10-for-28 combined shooting. Then the Badgers found just enough offense from Happ (20 points), Hayes and Koenig (10 points, all in the second half), to erase a six-point halftime deficit and survive Happ’s foul trouble.

Ultimately, this was an encouraging victory for Wisconsin even if there’s still room for improvement.

The Badgers avoided a three-game losing streak, notched maybe their best win of the season and made it clear they’re still a major factor in the Big Ten title chase.