PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Wisconsin’s slide continues.

When will it end?

When will the Badgers again start playing like the team that once was alone in first place in the Big Ten?

No one knows. But what is clear is that the No. 9-ranked Badgers won't end the slide until they first take better care of the ball and also rediscover their touch from three-point range.

Needing a fast start Saturday at Rutgers, the Badgers instead turned the ball over on their first three-possessions and four of their first five, fell into a nine-point hole and never led in an ugly 78-56 loss at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

BOX SCORE: Rutgers 78, Wisconsin 56

"I thought they were more aggressive than we were, specifically early," UW coach Greg Gard said. "We allowed them to get some confidence going and then you’re climbing uphill and they dial the pressure up more when you don’t handle it."

The Badgers (16-8, 8-5 Big Ten) lost their fourth consecutive league game for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when they lost five in a row from Jan. 23-Feb. 4.

Rutgers (13-10, 5-7) won its third consecutive game.

The Badgers turned the ball over 11 times in the first half -- against both full- and half-court pressure -- and finished with 12. Rutgers turned those miscues into 15 points.

"AJ (Storr) made some things happen – the one guy what would attack it," Gard said when asked about Rutgers' full-court pressure. "Not every decision was right, but at least he didn’t allow the press to stand us up and stop us. We were too passive against it.

"You’ve got to turn it against them. You’ve got to put some pressure back on them. When the floor is open you’ve got to make plays. We did at times, but not enough. We threw the ball into places we had no business throwing it. Picking it up when you should not pick it up – at half-court...

"I just thought they were more aggressive. They showed a toughness and an edge to them that we didn’t respond to well (enough). We didn’t go back at them soon enough."

The Badgers came in shooting 21.1% from three-point range in their previous two games (8 of 38). Facing a Rutgers team limiting foes to 30.6% three-point shooting, UW hit just 2 of 10 three-point attempts in the opening half and finished 5 of 21 (23.8%).

Meanwhile, a Rutgers team shooting just 10 of 59 from three-point range (16.9%) in the previous four games and 27.8% in all games, buried 10 of 17 attempts (58.8%).

Reserve guard Noah Fernandes, who had 16 three-pointers in his first 22 games and came in at 28.6% from beyond the arc, hit 5 of 5 attempts Saturday and finished with a team-high 17 points to lead five players in double figures.

"You let them get some confidence through turnovers, lay-ups, free throws, etc.," Gard said. "Of course that is going to fuel confidence. Then the basket looks extremely big...

"They hit some shots but it was the other things that gave them confidence to shoot threes – the turnovers, the and-1s and the layups. Then when you’re feeling good about yourself you take threes you might not take."

Clifford Omoruyi took care of business on the inside with 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks.

Connor Essegian proved a spark off the bench by hitting 5 of 12 shots and finished with a team-high 15 points for UW. Nolan Winter added five but that was it for UW's reserves until the final minute.

"I was just playing hard," said Essegian, who played a season-high 23:33. "I was able to put it in the basket and make some plays."

Storr added 14 points but just one in the second half. Steven Crowl contributed seven points and 13 rebounds. Tyler Wahl chipped in seven points and 12 rebounds.

Chucky Hepburn and Max Klesmit combined for 27 points in the loss at Michigan. On Saturday, that duo combined for just five points on 1-for-11 shooting.

"Rutgers was better than us in all facets today," Gard said.

The Badgers were without freshman guard John Blackwell (7.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg), who suffered an apparent hip injury in the loss to Purdue. Blackwell played 11:06 at Michigan and tried to get loose before tip-off Saturday but wasn’t moving well and was held out.

With Blackwell and Kamari McGee (toe) both out and Klesmit sitting the final 13:31 of the first half after committing his second foul, UW's guard depth was taxed.

"Max can’t get in foul trouble," Gard said. "Then I can use him to spell Chucky when I don’t have John."

How dominant was this performance by Rutgers? The Scarlet Knights took a 2-0 lead on a dunk by Omoruyi and led for 39:50.

"We knew we had to shut down transition and the two things we didn’t want to do, we did right off the bat," Crowl said. "The turnovers and letting them run. They got confidence and didn’t really miss."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Turnovers plague No. 9 Wisconsin in ugly loss to Rutgers