Johnny Davis scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half as No. 13 Wisconsin held off Rutgers 66-61 on Saturday at Piscataway, N.J., putting the Badgers atop the Big Ten Conference.

Wisconsin (23-5, 14-4 Big Ten) moved a game in front of fourth-ranked Purdue, which lost 68-65 at Michigan State on Saturday. The Boilermakers, who fell 74-69 to the Badgers on Jan. 3, play at Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Rutgers, which won at Wisconsin two weeks ago, went up 55-54 on Saturday thanks to a on Geo Baker layup with 5:57 to play. Davis countered with a driving lay-in, and Chucky Hepburn hit a deep 3-pointer from the top to put Wisconsin in front 59-55 with 4:43 remaining.

Rutgers' Clifford Omoruyi hit the second of two free throws to make it 59-56 with 3:26 left, but he missed the front of end of a bonus with 1:32 to go.

Davis hit two free throws to put Wisconsin up 63-58 before Ron Harper Jr. answered with a 3-pointer to make it 63-61 with 28 seconds left.

Five seconds later, Wisconsin's Tyler Wahl hit the first of two free throws to make it 64-61, but Baker missed a tying 3-point attempt. Davis hit two free throws with four seconds left to seal the outcome.

Brad Davison added 14 points, Hepburn 13 points and Wahl 11 points and nine rebounds as Wisconsin earned its fourth win in a row. Davis made just 6 of 19 shots but had eight rebounds and was 6 of 7 from the line.

Baker scored 19 points, including 16 in the second half, and Harper added 15 for the Scarlet Knights (16-12, 10-8). Rutgers lost its third straight after four consecutive victories over ranked teams.

Rutgers, which trailed by 11 early in the second half, took its first lead at 51-50 on Baker's jumper with 7:28 left.

Davis' two free throws put Wisconsin up 39-28 as Paul Mulcahy picked up his third foul with 18:08 left. Rutgers pulled even with a 14-3 run, tying it on a 3-pointer by Harper with 12 minutes remaining.

Davison scored 11 first-half points, hitting 3 of 5 from beyond the arc, and Hepburn had 10 to pace Wisconsin to a 33-24 lead at the break.

--Field Level Media