MADISON – Chucky Hepburn and his Wisconsin teammates haven’t forgotten getting thoroughly whipped by Rutgers the last time the teams met.

That was on Feb. 10 in Piscataway, New Jersey.

The Scarlet Knights were the aggressor from the opening possession as center Clifford Omoruyi won the tip and then used a screen to get open for a dunk off a lob just 11 seconds into the game.

Rutgers needed just 2 minutes 38 seconds to build a 9-0 lead as the Badgers turned the ball over on their first three possessions and then missed their first two shots, both three-pointers.

The lead quickly grew to double digits in the second half and UW never really challenged in a 78-56 loss.

The 22-point margin of defeat is the worst UW has suffered in league play this season.

UW's Chucky Hepburn and his teammates haven't forgotten ugly loss to Rutgers last month

“I would probably say that is the only game this year that we were like: ‘Damn, they’re really into our stuff,’” Hepburn said.

UW (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten) has two regular-season games remaining. The first is at 6 p.m. Thursday against visiting Rutgers (15-14, 7-11).

“This is a game we’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Hepburn said. “We’re definitely going to be ready for them this time.”

UW enters the final week of the regular season in fifth place in the league, one-half game behind fourth-place Nebraska and one game behind third-place Northwestern.

The Badgers are projected to be seeded No. 6 in the NCAA field.

Purdue (26-3, 15-3), which has clinched a share of the regular-season title, plays Tuesday at second-place Illinois (22-7, 13-5) and hosts UW on Sunday. The Illini close Sunday at Iowa (18-12, 10-9).

Northwestern (20-9, 11-7) plays Wednesday at Michigan State (17-12, 9-9) and closes Saturday against visiting Minnesota (18-11, 9-9).

No UW player had an exceptional game in the loss to Rutgers, though Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl combined for 25 rebounds.

Hepburn and Max Klesmit combined to hit just 1 of 11 shots. Hepburn missed his lone three-point attempt and all four shots overall. Klesmit was limited to 20 minutes because of foul trouble and hit 1 of 5 three-pointers and 1 of 7 shots overall.

“That’s the next game we’ve got on the schedule, so that is the biggest game,” Klesmit said. “Just trying to stick (to) the same approach – never try to get too high, never try to get too low and staying focused.

“But, yea, looking forward to that game. Is it Thursday? Perfect.”

The loss to Rutgers was the fourth of a four-game losing streak that started with a road defeat to Nebraska.

The Badgers, who were without John Blackwell (hip) in the loss at Rutgers, did few things well that day.

Rutgers took control early and led for all but 10 seconds in the first meeting with UW

They had 11 of their 12 turnovers in the decisive first half. Rutgers finished with 15 points off UW turnovers.

The Scarlet Knights came into the game shooting just 10 of 59 from three-point range (16.9%) in their previous four games and 27.8% in all games. Buoyed by some easy baskets early, Rutgers hit 10 of 17 three-pointers (58.8%).

That was Rutgers’ season-high mark for three-point shooting. The Scarlet Knights have hit 29 of 102 attempts (28.4%) in the six games since facing UW.

Rutgers had more points off turnovers (15-5), second-chance points (13-9), points in the paint (36-28) and outscored UW from the three-point line (30-15).

“The margin for error is really slim,” UW coach Greg Gard said in describing most of the teams in the league. “It is all little things that when you stack ‘em together, it puts you in a bad position.

“You continue to push and continue to reward the guys that area playing winning basketball and making winning plays.

“You keep pointing out the good and then help the guys who are trying to find that space.”

More: A former Wisconsin high school standout helped Illinois beat the Badgers on an emotional day

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin basketball team gets another shot at Rutgers after ugly loss