BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The double-digit lead had disappeared, and we've seen that before from this Indiana team. The offense bogged down late, too, and that's been a consistent issue as well.

But when the Hoosiers needed a break, they got a couple of them in the closing seconds of overtime.

A disputed offensive foul call on Wisconsin's Nick Boyd with 15 seconds left gave the Hoosiers the ball back, and then Lamar Wilkerson hit two free throws after another questionable foul with 2.8 seconds to go, giving the Hoosiers a much-needed 78-77 win over the Badgers on Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. 

And while the Hoosiers strolled off with a critical win, the Badgers left kicking and screaming. They felt like they got robbed. 

"I've never seen anything like that,'' irritated Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said of the foul on Boyd that set up Indiana's game-winning possession. "They tried fouling us three times up the floor, then we get called driving away from the basket. I don't understand that call, but I guess there's a first for everything.

"It's a hard game to ref, but that wasn't a hard call. ''

The victory raised Indiana's record to 16-8 overall and 7-6 in the Big Ten. It was massive for their resume-building, especially after recent home losses to Nebraska and Iowa in January. They could not afford another home loss, not with the clock ticking on their postseason hopes.

They had a 16-point first half lead, and led by 13 seven minutes into the second half. The Indiana led was seven with five minutes to go, but Wisconsin went on a 13-2 run to grab a four-point lead in the final minute. All that saved Indiana was four Wilkerson free throws and a critical defense stop to force overtime.

Wisconsin had a lead in overtime, too, but then the final 15 seconds of craziness happened and the Hoosiers to a win after all. They certainly had played well enough to win most of the day, and they'll take it, for sure.

Indiana point guard Conor Enright, who's a pest on defense, drew the charge on Boyd in overtime. 

"e were trying to get a quick trap, see if we could get a quick steal,'' Indiana coach Darian DeVries said. "We thought we had enough time to try to take a few chances there, and if we could get them sped up, try to get one first. Conor just does what he does. He keeps competing, keeps fighting, and that was a huge play for us.''

Enright knew he was taking a risk in trying to draw a charge — and he admitted the odds weren't good. But he did it anyway.

"We were trying to get a turnover first, trying to see if they'd cough it up,'' Enright said. "Honestly, I was kind of panicking, trying to get a hold of him because he was wasting time, 15 seconds, something like that. Then I just saw his shoulder go into me and figured from a foul I might as well try and get a charge. It worked out.

"(My confidence level) was very low, very low, but we got it. I was a little shocked myself. I thought next play, we've got to get a bucket.''

They didn't, but they got the next best thing. Wilkerson, who led the Hoosiers with 25 points, drove into the lane against Wisconsin's John Blackwell, They got their feet tangled up, and Blackwell was called for a foul with 2.8 seconds to go. Wilkerson, who was 8-for-8 from the free throw line on the day, nailed the final two for the win.

Wilkerson, who has made 77 threes this season, was just 1-for-8 from deep on Saturday. But he attacked the basket all game and made a season-high seven two-point baskets. 

He got plenty of help, too. Sam Alexis had a season-high 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, all at the rim, and Tucker DeVries added 16. Enright had 11. They were all headed to the rim all day. The Hoosiers scored 44 points in the paints. 

I think we thought that we could get them in drives,'' Enright said. "We thought we could get downhill, which was a kind of point of emphasis in practice, so I thought we did a good job of doing that. Yeah, it was just the coaches giving us a good plan.''

The Hoosiers have a quick turnaround. They play Oregon on Monday night at Assembly Hall, and it's another must win game for their NCAA Tournament hopes.

"I thought Sam was tremendous that second half,'' DeVries said of Alexis. "We were able to take advantage of a few switches. That's why they were able to stay in front of us a little better. They were switching a little more. We were able to throw it inside.

"I thought the guys did a good job, ran a few things to try to get it to him, but they got it to him, and Sam did the rest from there. He had five blocks on the game, eight rebounds. That's a big night.''

Tucker DeVries got back in double-digits after three games without doing so, the longest drought of his five-year career. He had 16 points and eight rebounds, and played all 45 minutes.

"Tucker, he's our connector out there,'' Darian DeVries said of his son. "He played 45 minutes, had eight rebounds and knocked some shots down tonight. So I thought both those guys just did a really good job of playing through it.

"Tucker, obviously with a lot of minutes, and Sam maybe in a role that he hasn't had a lot of this year, but he's able to take on that role, take advantage of what they were doing, and go make some plays.''

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