No. 4 Wisconsin 65, Northwestern 50: Sam Dekker scored 16 points and corralled seven rebounds as the host Badgers cruised to their sixth consecutive win in the Big Ten.

Bronson Koenig drained four 3-pointers en route to 16 points while Frank Kaminsky added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Wisconsin (21-2, 9-1), which matched its best start in conference play since 1914. Nigel Hayes produced 11 points and eight rebounds while Josh Gasser had eight points to go along with nine boards.

Alex Olah led the way with 15 points for Northwestern (10-13, 1-9), which dropped its ninth straight game. Bryant McIntosh scored 13 points as the Wildcats could not overcome 39.6 percent shooting from the field.

Dekker connected from beyond the arc and threw down two dunks as the Badgers jumped in front 16-2 and they led by as many as 17 before Vic Law drilled a 3-pointer during a 9-0 run to trim the deficit to eight. Hayes scored the last five points of the first half for Wisconsin as he and Dekker tallied 11 apiece to give the Badgers a comfortable 37-21 advantage at intermission.

Koenig drained two consecutive 3-pointers to push the margin to 22 early in the second half before McIntosh tried to get Northwestern back in it by sparking a 7-0 spurt to close the gap to 47-33. Dekker and Koenig drilled back-to-back triples to restore Wisconsin's 20-point cushion at 53-33 with 8:05 remaining and the Badgers were never threatened the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Wisconsin has won 15 of the last 16 meetings in Madison. … The Badgers won the battle of the boards 39-25 and had a 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass. … Northwestern has been held to 60 points or less in six of 10 conference games. …