Sophomore point guard Bryant McIntosh poured in a game-high 28 points to pace Northwestern to a 70-65 Big Ten victory over Wisconsin on Tuesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Not only did the victory serve as the Wildcats' first over the Badgers at home since 2010, Northwestern (15-3, 3-2) owns its best Big Ten start since the 1967-68 squad opened league play at 4-1.

Wisconsin (9-9, 1-4), which is in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998, was led by junior forward Nigel Hayes' 17 points, six rebounds and six assists. Freshman center Ethan Happ added 12 points and six rebounds.

McIntosh was the difference-maker early and late for Northwestern. He fueled a 10-0 run that staked Northwestern to a 12-3 lead -- McIntosh either scored or assisted on all 10 points -- but the Badgers started to solve the Wildcats' matchup zone and took their first lead, 18-16, on Jordan Hill's 3-pointer with 6:52 left in the first half.

The Badgers seized a 47-45 lead on junior guard Zak Showalter's 3-pointer with 8:56 to play, but it would be their last.

Northwestern turned the tide with consecutive rare plays that gave the Wildcats a 52-47 lead with 6:07 to go. McIntosh fed Joey van Zegeren for an alley-oop jam to get the home crowd on its feet, then the Wildcats forced the Badgers into a shot-clock violation.

Then McIntosh took matters into his own hands. He drilled a 3-pointer and then benefited from a rare errant pass to score again -- his lob pass for center Dererk Pardon banged off the rim and right back to him for layup -- to push Northwestern's lead to 59-53 with 3:16 to play. After Wisconsin committed another turnover, McIntosh canned another jumper and the Badgers never got closer than 5 points.

Wisconsin's last chance evaporated with 12.8 seconds to play when sophomore forward Gavin Skelly drew a charge from Badgers point guard Bronson Koenig as he drove to the hoop trying to cut into a 68-63 deficit.