WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and his players insisted they had no clue that UW entered Thursday night tied for eighth place in the Big Ten men's basketball race.
"I didn't know what place we were in, to be honest," senior guard Jordan Taylor said. "But I knew our record."
The Badgers brought a three-game losing streak, a 1-3 record in league play and blurry shooting eyes to face Purdue in Mackey Arena, a building that had been more graveyard than basketball facility for most Wisconsin teams.
So how did Wisconsin respond after three consecutive offensive performances that could only be described as ugly?
The Badgers hit from all over the court early to build an 18-point lead and then held off repeated surges by the Boilermakers in the second half for a satisfying 67-62 victory in front of a crowd of 14,620.
The victory was the Badgers' first here since 2005 and just their third in 40 visits to Mackey Arena.
"We knew it was an important game," said sophomore guard Josh Gasser, one of five UW players with at least 10 points. "I don't think we looked at our record. We just knew we had been struggling.
"To come here and get the win for the first time in a long time is huge for us," Gasser said.
Wisconsin (13-5, 2-3) shot a combined 21.4 percent from three-point range and 33.3 percent overall in losses to Iowa, Michigan State and Michigan.
Against Purdue (13-5, 3-2), UW hit 5 of its first 6 three-pointers and 8 of its first 10 shots overall to build a 22-4 lead just 7 minutes 19 seconds into the game.
"We talked about not giving them rhythm shots," said Purdue coach Matt Painter, now 7-4 against UW. "I just think they got too many rhythm shots early and got their heads up. That ended up being the difference in the game. . . .
"They did a better job starting the game and they did a better job really the entire game."
UW led by 34-22 at halftime and by 45-30 with 14:53 left after guard Ben Brust buried a three-pointer.
"We knew they were going to make a run," Taylor said.
Fueled by 3 three-pointers, the Boilermakers went on a 13-0 run to pull within 45-43 with 10:36 left.
UW responded.
Forward Mike Bruesewitz buried a three-pointer to push the lead to five points and with the lead at 48-45 hit another three-pointer.
Brust followed with a steal and a three-pointer to push the lead to 54-45 with 6:16 remaining.
UW made 11 of 14 free throws over the final 2:07 and 20 of 24 overall to hold on.
"Guys knocked down shots right away and built some confidence," Bruesewitz said. "And then when they made their run the place got really loud and we just responded with stops and buckets."
Brust hit 3 of 4 three-pointers and finished with a team-high 13 points. Bruesewitz hit 4 of 4 three-pointers and added 12 points and five rebounds before fouling out with 39.1 seconds left.
Taylor added 12 points, all in the second half, five assists and two turnovers.
Gasser and Ryan Evans scored 10 points apiece.
UW shot 45 percent from three-point range (9 of 20) and 47.5 percent overall (19 of 40).
"We were moving really well without the ball, a lot better than we have been," Taylor said. "We got open looks and we've been saying all year long that guys with open looks will knock them down.
"That's not always been the case, but we have too many good shooters to keep shooting the ball the way we had been shooting."
Purdue got 16 points from guard Terone Johnson and 13 from Robbie Hummel.
However, Hummel hit just 5 of 17 field-goal attempts and the Boilermakers shot just 34.4 percent overall (21 of 61) and 54.5 percent from the free-throw line (12 of 22).
Afterward, Ryan was asked about the importance of the victory given UW's unusual place in the standings.
"I didn't even know what place we were in," Ryan said after the victory. "I just knew we needed to get some things worked out."
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