NEW YORK -- Ethan Happ rescued No. 15 Wisconsin out of a scoring funk, delivering a career-high 32 points as the Badgers survived a scare, knocking off Rutgers 61-54 in overtime on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Happ scored seven points in the overtime. He shot 12 of 18 as Wisconsin (18-3, 7-1 Big 10) won despite shooting 33 percent and 3 of 25 from 3-point range.

The sophomore forward tossed in 15 of Wisconsin's last 29 points. He made 8 of 16 free throws and added six rebounds and three assists.

Happ is the only player in the country to average at least 13 points, nine rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and one block a game.

Wisconsin overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 3:11 of regulation to win for the 14th time in its last 15 outings.

"We just do what Wisconsin does, get it in the post," said Badgers forward Bronson Koenig. "And Ethan's a great player, so credit him for making the right reads, making the right plays, either kicking it out or scoring or getting to the free throw line."

Corey Sanders led Rutgers (12-10, 1-8) with 15 points and Nigel Johnson added 13. The Scarlet Knights are 4-47 in league play since joining the Big 10 in 2014.

Koenig, Wisconsin's top scorer (14.6 ppg), was held to just 10 points and Nigel Hayes, the Big 10 Preseason Player of Year was limited to seven points by a stout Rutgers defense.

A traditional 3-point play from Hayes gave the Badgers a 57-52 edge with 57 seconds left in the extra session.

Hayes' 3-point play occurred after Happ scored six straight points to give Wisconsin a 53-50 lead.

Rutgers last lead was at 48-47, 46 seconds into the overtime

Happ's baseline drive with two seconds left forced overtime at 45-45 after the Scarlet Knights made one of two from the line.

Zak Showalter's reverse layup drew the Badgers to 42-40 with 1:09 with. After a Rutgers basket, Koenig drilled a 3-pointer to move to within 44-43 with 32 seconds left.

Happ brought the Badgers to 41-38 with a layup, but Deshawn Freeman made one of two free throws for a 42-38 Scarlet Knights lead.

A tip-in from Freeman extended the Rutgers lead to 37-30 with 6:05 to play and Nigel Johnson's jumper from the right corner made it 39-32.

"It's not what we wanted to do obviously," Happ said about playing from behind. "But it means a lot for this team to come together through a really bad shooting night and come out on top.

"Playing from behind is kind of an uneasy feeling. And then once you get on top you kind of want to maintain that lead, but we were going back and forth there a little bit."

Charles Thomas IV sank a jumper, giving Wisconsin its first lead, 29-27, since the 6:25 mark of the first half. Rutgers responded with four straight baskets to retake the lead at 35-29 with 9:28 to play.

Koenig's first basket, a 3-pointer, drew Wisconsin to 27-25 with 15:49 to play and Happ's two free throws tied it at 27-27.

The Badgers failed to score from the field in the final 10:36 of the half, missing 12 shots. They were just 5 of 25 from the floor and trailed 25-20. Koenig was 0 for 6 and Hayes for 0 for 2.

"Obviously missing all those shots didn't feel good for me," Koenig admitted. "Nobody could really throw it into the ocean today for most of the game. I just told the guys, keep battling, keep fighting, keep trying to stay positive because it seemed like nothing was going our way."

A breakaway dunk from Diallo Ibrahim and a 3-pointer by Mike Williams gave Rutgers its largest lead, 25-18, with 2:34 to play before the half.

Before getting the seven-point lead, Rutgers went scoreless from the field for 4:52. Wisconsin also went without a basket from the floor for 5:52, going 0 of 7 but held an 18-17 lead thanks to free throws.

Happ scored 10 of the Badgers first 13 points, going 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line.

"We're getting there," said Rutgers first-year coach Steve Pikiell, who took over a program that hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 1991. "We need to figure out ways to win down the stretch and have to make some timely buckets and we're going to get there."

NOTES: The Badgers' lead the series 6-1. ... Wisconsin scored 17 points off of 19 Rutgers' turnovers. ... Rutgers entered Saturday fourth nationally in rebounding, 19th in rebound margin 16th in blocks and 23rd in field goal percentage defense. ... Wisconsin entered Saturday eighth in scoring defense and 11th in scoring margin. ... In its Big Ten opener on Dec. 27, the Badgers defeated Rutgers 72-52 at the Kohl Center.