Brad Davison sank one of two free throws with two seconds left after a controversial call on an inbounds play to give Wisconsin an 81-80 win over Western Kentucky on Wednesday at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

The Hilltoppers' Justin Johnson tied the score at 80 with a jumper and the clock showing two seconds left. After a timeout, the Badgers ran a baseline play, and Western Kentucky's Marek Nelson was called for a blocking foul with the ball never being inbounded.

Davison made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, and the Badgers (5-7) escaped with a win that snapped a two-game losing streak at the Kohl Center.

Ethan Happ and Brevin Pritzl led the Badgers with 17 points each. Davison added 16 and Aleem Ford 14 for the Wisconsin. The win could go a long way in helping to determine if the Badgers will make it to their 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament.

Nelson was in the game only because the Hilltoppers' leading scorer, Lamonte Bearden, had fouled out.

Bearden finished with 19 points. Thompson added 18 points, six rebounds and four assists as the Hilltoppers (6-4) erased an 11-point, second-half deficit and looked prepared to send the game into overtime.

The Hilltoppers had a chance to tie the score at 78, but a turnover by Bearden gave the ball back to the Badgers with 38 seconds left. A foul by Taveion Hollingsworth sent Davison to the free-throw line, where he made just one of two attempts to put Wisconsin up 79-76.

Davison fouled Hollingsworth, who made both of his free throws, cutting the Hilltoppers' deficit to 79-78.

The Badgers got the ball inbounds, and Bearden committed his fifth foul sending Pritzl to the foul line. Pritzl made 1 of 2, setting the stage for Thompson to tie the game.

Wisconsin trailed at halftime after watching a nine-point lead evaporate. However, behind a balanced offensive attack, the Badgers went on 9-0 run to take a 61-51 lead.

The Hilltoppers went nearly four minutes without scoring until Bearden's jumper and free throw stopped the bleeding and cut the Western Kentucky deficit to 61-54.

Another run by the Badgers extended the lead back up to a game-high 11 points when Happ sank a free throw to make the score 65-54 with 9:34 left. But as they did all game, the Hilltoppers stormed back and tied the game at 71 on a layup by Jake Ohmer with 4:48 left.