BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- Wisconsin is continuing its roller coaster ride through the Big Ten schedule.

Trevon Hughes had 21 points and Joe Krabbenhoft scored 18 as the Badgers pulled away in the second half to beat the struggling Indiana Hoosiers 68-51 on Thursday night.

The Badgers (17-9, 8-6 Big Ten) won their first three conference games, lost the next six and have now won five straight to remain in the upper half of the Big Ten standings.

"It's who you play, when you play and where you play a lot of times," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "You guys (the media) have seen us play. Do we change? Did we look like a different team out there?"

Unfortunately for the Hoosiers (6-19, 1-12), they looked like the same team, too.

Verdell Jones had 16 points and Devan Dumes scored 12 in his first game back from a two-game suspension for Indiana, which dropped its fourth straight game after beating Iowa for its only conference victory.

The Hoosiers, who trailed 31-30 at halftime, shot 5-of-18 from the field after the break and at one point went more than 6 minutes without scoring. The Badgers pushed their lead to 49-34 after starting the second half with an 18-4 run.

"I don't think we competed very well in the second half, and our defense certainly let us down," Indiana coach Tom Crean said. "There was really nothing early to mid-second half that we could hang our hat on.

"They played better than us, bottom line," he added. "We just didn't play well in the second half. Our communication broke down, we took some quick shots."

The first half featured nine lead changes and six ties, and neither team led by more than five points. The Hoosiers took their biggest advantage, 22-17, on Dumes' 3-pointer midway through the half. Wisconsin regained a three-point edge before settling for a slim lead at the intermission.

"We work hard in practice to stop those different things we're having problems with," Jones said. "It's very frustrating when it continues to come up during games."

The Badgers helped their cause at securing a possible NCAA tournament bid, but Ryan was more concerned about his team's next opponent -- Michigan State -- than its tournament chances.

"I'm not biting on that," he said. "I never get into that other stuff."

Wisconsin improved to 13-0 this season when holding opponents to less than 60 points.

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