Nothing much was working for Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor early in yesterday’s game.

The Badgers guard struggled with his offense and headed to the locker room at halftime with five points on 2-of-6 shooting in the face of some tough defense by No. 22 Illinois.

But when it mattered most, Taylor found himself with the ball, driving across the lane as the shot clock wound down with under a minute to play. The senior made a midrange jumper that gave the Badgers a five-point lead, and that bit of breathing room was enough for Wisconsin to hold on for a 67-63 victory over the Illini.

“The opportunity presents itself and I try to knock shots down,” said Taylor, who finished with 19 points. “I’m still not doing a great job of that.”

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said his Badgers (16-5, 5-3) had to scrap for their fourth straight win after three consecutive Big Ten losses.

“We have to do those things to be successful,” Ryan said. “We don’t strike fear in a lot of hearts when we show up.”

The Illini (15-5, 4-3) were led by Meyers Leonard’s 16 points and 10 rebounds. Joseph Bertrand added 15 points.

Men’s highlights

No. 11 Indiana 73, Penn State 54 — Cody Zeller scored 18 points, and Indiana (10-11, 2-6 Big Ten) rallied for a victory over Penn State (16-4, 4-4).

For a half, it looked like Penn State would ride its defense to a third straight victory in Bloomington, Ind.

But Indiana scored the first four points of the second half to take a 31-29 lead and never trailed again.

Minnesota 75, Northwestern 52 — Rodney Williams had 11 points and four steals and flustered the Big Ten’s leading scorer to help Minnesota (15-5, 3-4) beat Northwestern (12-7, 2-5).

John Shurna scored 21 points for the Wildcats, but he shot just 8 of 21 from the field and scored 10 of those points in the final 11 minutes with the outcome already decided.

Cleveland State 83, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 57 — Trevon Harmon scored 15 points to lead six Cleveland State players in double figures, and the Vikings (17-4, 7-2) cruised past Wisconsin-Milwaukee (13-8, 6-3) to remain tied for first place in the Horizon League.

Cleveland State, which has won five of its past six, is tied with Valparaiso.

Women’s highlights

No. 5 Duke 80, No. 8 Maryland 72 — Haley Peters scored a career-high 21 points, and Duke (16-2, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat Maryland 18-2, 5-2) for its 10th straight win.

Chelsea Gray had seven of her 17 points in the final three minutes to help the Blue Devils remain the ACC’s only unbeaten team in league play.

No. 22 Penn State 68, Iowa 52 — Alex Bentley scored 21 points to lead Penn State (15-4, 5-2 Big Ten) over Iowa (11-9, 3-4).

Down 50-48 with 6:32 remaining, Penn State closed with a 20-2 run.