Taylor, Wisconsin hold off Nebraska 50-45

MADISON -- Jordan Taylor sank five free throws in the final 30 seconds and made a key steal in the waning moments to seal a 50-45 win for Wisconsin over Nebraska on Sunday.

Taylor finished with 19 points to lead Wisconsin (14-5, 3-3 Big Ten).

Nebraska (9-8, 1-5) never led and trailed by eight with just more than five minutes to go before cutting it to 45-43 with less than 30 seconds left.

Bo Spencer missed a 3-pointer for the Huskers, but Wisconsin's Jared Berggren couldn't corral the ball. Spencer missed another 3, but Toney McCray was fouled after grabbing the rebound, and Dylan Talley finally converted from behind the arc to make it a two-point game.

Nebraska immediately fouled Taylor, who sank both free throws. But Spencer responded with a quick finger roll on the other end to pull Nebraska back within 47-45.

Taylor was again fouled, this time with 17 seconds remaining. He hit the first free throw. But after missing the second, he ripped the ball away from Talley in the lane and was fouled again. He hit the last two free throws with 13 seconds left to seal the win.

Taylor finished 11 of 15 from the free-throw line, where the Badgers' performance helped bail them out from their worst shooting night of the season at 31 percent.

The Badgers were 18 of 24 from the line, while the Cornhuskers had only two free-throw attempts, making both.

Spencer scored 13 points to lead the Cornhuskers, who weren't much better offensively than Wisconsin. They shot 35 percent and were outrebounded 42-28, resulting in17 second-chance points for the Badgers.

With a crowd thinned thanks to the Green Bay Packers' playoff game ad students still on break, it was one of the sloppiest performances of the season for Wisconsin. In addition to their poor shooting, the Badgers committed 11 first-half turnovers, including one stretch of four straight possessions.

Averaging just under nine turnovers a game, they tightened it up in the second half, committing just one.

Josh Gasser scored 12 points for the Badgers, while Berggren finished with nine points and 13 rebounds.