WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – With the outright Big Ten title and conference tournament number one seed wrapped up earlier in the week, No.3 Purdue had a prime opportunity to rest its starters to help ensure a postseason failure didn’t occur in consecutive years.

The University of Wisconsin wasn’t fortunate enough to get that scenario.

The Boilermakers capped a dominant Big Ten regular season by jumping on the cold-shooting visitors early and maintaining that edge in a 78-70 victory over Wisconsin at Mackey Arena Sunday afternoon in both team’s regular-season finale.

Center Zach Edey’s 25 points and 14 rebounds were a game-high for Purdue (28-3, 17-3 Big Ten), which completed its fourth unbeaten season in Mackey Arena history (1968-69, 2010-11, 2018-19) by improving to 10-0 against the NCAA NET top 25.

Fletcher Loyer (15), Lance Jones (13), and Braden Smith (10) also reached double figures for the Boilermakers, who shot 49.1 percent overall and 9-for-18 from three.

Freshman John Blackwell scored a team-high 18 points off the bench for Wisconsin (19-12, 11-9 Big Ten), which dropped its sixth straight conference road game to lose out on a double bye in this week’s Big Ten Tournament.

The result combined with Nebraska’s 85-70 win at Michigan and Illinois' 73-61 win at Iowa means the Badgers will open conference tournament play as the No.5 seed Thursday afternoon against the winner of No.12 Maryland vs. No.13 Rutgers.

Senior Tyler Wahl recorded his first double-double of the season (17 pts, 10 rebounds) while adding five assists while A.J. Storr scored 17 points on 15 shots.

Wisconsin players felt they weren’t far off Purdue’s level following the Boilers’ 75-69 victory in Madison on February 4. Five weeks later, the chasm grew wider.

Its game plan of spreading out Purdue’s defense was foiled in the first meeting by its outside shot. The Badgers scored 44 points in the paint but were 3-for-19 from the perimeter, including 0-11 in the second half.

UW couldn’t tap into that plan a second time because the Badgers couldn’t make much of anything. Wisconsin went 5-for-24 from three-point range (20.8 percent) and 27-for-62 overall (43.5 percent).

The cold shooting started quickly, as seven consecutive misses dropped Wisconsin into a 12-4 hole that continued to grow. Over the first 16 possessions, Wisconsin had as many fouls (six) as field goals (18 attempts) and as many flagrant-1 calls (one) as three-point makes (eight attempts).

Down 25-13, the Badgers were averaging .813 points per possession and didn’t have Max Klesmit, Steven Crowl, or Nolan Winter available because of multiple fouls. The foul trouble became so problematic that UW rotated Crowl and Winter in short spurts with their two fouls and played seldom-used forward Chris Hodges for three minutes.

Klesmit was limited to seven points in 17 minutes while Crowl fouled out with 1:55 remaining, having scored no points on two shots.

Wisconsin went into halftime shooting 36.4 percent from the field and 15.4 percent (2-for-13) from three, building an 11-point deficit that extended more than five minutes into the second half before it made a push.

Starting with Blackwell cleaning up an offensive rebound, the Badgers’ 8-1 run cut the deficit to four. Markus Ilver had two chances to trim it to one, but a pair of badly missed threes led to a Smith second-chance three.

The Badgers made several pushes to get back to within one possession, including getting back to within 65-60 with 5:25 remaining but watched Mason Gillis hit a three-pointer from the top of the circle to thwart what turned out to be its final threat.

What it means: Losing by eight in the outright conference champions in a building where the Badgers are 6-43 all-time shouldn’t carry much weight, especially since 15 other teams couldn’t knock off Purdue in the building.

Star of the game: Blackwell’s confidence continues to grow with each game removed from his hip injury. Reaching double figures for the third time in the past four games, Blackwell was 7-for-10 from the floor and one of the few Badgers who attacked consistently and found success at the rim.

Stat of the game: Purdue outscored Wisconsin, 14-4, in fast-break points, the biggest difference in the game.

Reason to be Concerned: The Badgers have been a streaky shooting three-point team most of the season, which could be problematic when it goes against teams as talented as Purdue. The Badgers were 8-for-43 in two games against the Boilers, which allowed them to sag off shooters and keep driving lanes closed.

Don’t overlook: Wisconsin was able to get Edey off the floor for the final 4:36 with two fouls, a chance to cut into a nine-point deficit. But Wahl went 1-for-2 from the line and threw a pass away on the next possession, leading to a fast break that ended with Kamari McGee fouling Loyer on a three-point make. The four-point play put Purdue up, 38-26, with 3:59 left in the first half.

What’s next: Wisconsin won the only meeting between Maryland this season in Madison (74-70 on Feb.20) and split its two meetings with Rutgers, with each team winning on its home court.

The Badgers are 25-20 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, having made seven championship game appearances with three titles (2004, 2008, 2015). UW is 25-20 against lower seeds but has lost its opening game in the last two seasons in such games.

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