MADISON – No D’Mitrik Trice, no Kobe King and now no Brevin Pritzl?
No problem for Wisconsin.
The Badgers have Ethan Happ and Indiana doesn’t.
Advantage UW.
Happ didn't have to fly solo Tuesday night at the Kohl Center, but the redshirt junior repeatedly made plays on both ends of the court and finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks in UW’s 71-61 victory in front of an announced crowd of 17,287.
BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 71, Indiana 61
“I don’t need to say it; it’s obvious,” UW coach Greg Gard said. “I’m extremely happy for our guys, how hard they played.
"Different guys stepped up. I thought Happ was terrific.
"But so many other guys stepped up at key times…I thought it was a terrific team effort."
This is not a vintage Indiana team under first-year coach Archie Miller, but with Pritzl (concussion) joining UW’s injury list after colliding with a teammate during shoot-around just hours before tip, the Badgers at times went with a lineup that featured three players who joined the program as walk-ons.
UW (9-7, 2-1 Big Ten) overcame the latest injury and extended is winning streak to five games and moved two games above the .500 mark for the first time since a 2-0 start.
The Badgers extended their home winning streak over Indiana (8-7, 1-2) to 16 games and have won 19 of the last 21 meetings in Madison.
Happ hit 6 of 7 shots and scored 15 points in the first half to keep UW within 33-30. He hit 11 of 17 field-goal attempts overall and 6 of 11 free-throw attempts.
"He pretty much made the right play every time," Indiana coach Archie Miller said.
Freshman guard Brad Davison, who missed all four of his shots in the first half, came to life in the second half with all 14 of his points. He added four rebounds and two assists.
Davison hit 4 of 8 field-goal attempts and 4 of 4 free-throw attempts in the half to ease Happ’s burden.
"I think I settled down and let the game come to me a little more," Davison said. "I think the first half I was rushing things a little bit. Second half I trusted my work, trusted my teammates."
Khalil Iverson hit 6 of 7 free throws and contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Aleem Ford hit 3 of 6 three-pointers and added nine points for UW, which sank 18 of 24 free-throw attempts compared to 9 of 10 for Indiana.
With Pritzl (8.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 36.8% three-point shooting) out, Gard used Aaron Moesch (25 minutes), T.J. Schlundt (20 minutes) and Walt McGrory (four minutes) a combined 49 minutes.
Moesch, who had played a total of 37 minutes in nine games before Tuesday, contributed two points, three rebounds, two assists and solid defense. Schlundt added three points, a rebound and a steal and McGrory allowed Davison to rest for a few minutes.
"Brevin is a shooter but we don’t need guys to always come in and shoot the ball," Happ said when asked about the play of Moesch, Schundt and McGrory. "I think having guys come in, be solid defensively and move the ball on offense ... Moesch especially did a great job tonight of doing exactly that."
Collin Hartman led Indiana with 18 points but only five came in the second half. Juwan Morgan added 17 and Robert Johnson added 14 for Indiana, which hit just 4 of 15 three-pointers (26.7%).
UW struggled on defense and on the glass in the first half and fell behind by three.
Indiana shot 56.5% (13 of 23) and won the rebounding battle, 14-10. UW tightened its defense in the second half to keep Indiana's guards out of the lane and killed the Hoosiers on the boards.
The Hoosiers shot 40.7% after halftime (11 of 27) and UW won the rebounding battle, 20-8. the Badgers finished with a 30-22 overall edge, including a 13-7 edge in offensive rebounds. That allowed UW to score 15 second-chance points to four for Indiana.
"Credit to Wisconsin," Miller said. "I thought they did a really nice job, especially in the second half, of really playing hard, playing physical.
"The game really changed on the glass. We were, to be honest with you, soft on the glass."
Happ scored six points an assisted on Ford's three-pointer during an 11-2 run that allowed UW to build a 55-47 lead with 7 minutes 55 seconds remaining. Johnson scored to cut the deficit to six but Davison answered with a three-pointer, off a feed from Happ, to push the lead to 58-49. UW made 9 of 10 free throws over the final 5:26 to hold the lead.
UW's players learned about three hours before tip that Pritzl would not be available.
Asked if that was enough prep time, Davison smiled.
"Yeah," he said. "We got the job done."