[media-credit name=’MEGHAN CONLIN/Herald Photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]It's simple; to beat Indiana you shut down its star man: Marco Killingsworth. And that is just what Wisconsin did Wednesday night at the Kohl Center as the team finally got a much-awaited for victory.

In the Badgers 72-54 trouncing of the Hoosiers, Killingsworth was held to 14 points, four shy of his average coming in. The Hoosier standout, with the "big man" tattoo on his left arm, looked small as the crowd of 17,142 cheered when he fouled out with 8:15 remaining in the contest.

"He's a good player," Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. "We may face him again in the Big Ten tournament, and we know that we'll have our hands full then, too. He's a heck of a player … but I was glad he got in foul trouble."

The victory over Indiana ended a two-week drought for the Badgers. It also bumped up the team to a third-place ranking in the Big Ten.

"It was a great performance by Wisconsin," Indiana head coach Mike Davis said. "They did a great job on [defense] against us. We shot a poor, poor percentage. They had a lot to do with it. Tucker is by far one of the top two best players in the league."

Everything appeared to run clean for the Badgers throughout the contest, especially for Tucker, who ended the contest with a game-high 29 points.

The Badgers started with a fresh starting lineup as sophomore Michael Flowers started in place of the injured Brian Butch.

Things went great for Flowers in the beginning, as the guard pulled down two rebounds and snagged one steal within the first four minutes.

After the steal, Wisconsin went on an 11-2 run, which included two 3-pointers from senior Ray Nixon.

With the score at 20-6, Indiana responded with a 10-0 run to bring the contest back within four.

With the game looking rough, Tucker would close the half by going 3-for-4 and accumulating eight points.

Tucker ended the first half with 11 points and two blocks (his fourth and fifth blocks on the season).

The second half would look similar for the Badgers as Tucker went 7-for-11 and Nixon went 3-for-4.

Nixon finished the contest with 13 points, while freshman Kevin Gullikson, who also had a stellar game, ended with career highs in points (7), rebounds (7) and minutes (24).

"He gave us a lot of energy that we didn't have coming into this game," Tucker commented about Gullikson's performance. "He is getting some quality minutes. I'm just relieved now."

"I was just trying to work hard to not let people get the ball," Gullikson said. "My teammates were working hard together, we got the win together … I'm just trying to pick things up as we go."

Another player who got noticeable minutes was Tanner Bronson. The roughly 5-foot-11 sophomore shot 1-for-4 and put the icing on the cake for the Badgers as he nailed his first career 3-pointer.

"It's good to see anyone score," Gullikson said of Bronson's three. "It's exciting for all of us."

In the end, Wisconsin forced 15 turnovers and increased Indiana's conference road game record to 0-4. Wisconsin also shot 45 percent from the field and out-shot IU in the paint 28-16.

The Badgers have won the last six out of seven games against the Hoosiers.

"This is one of our best wins on the year," Nixon said. "It was a good win because it came at a key moment in our season, we just hope it keeps snowballing."

"We've just got to find some guys who are willing to play," Tucker said. "Everyone is stepping up and that is what we need every game and not just this game. We can't be satisfied by just showing up for one game. It's still early; we have a long way to go. We have to bring this every night.

"But this was a big win for us," Tucker continued. "Not only winning it, but the matter in which we won it. It was a great boost for our confidence."