Last year, Northwestern went up to the Kohl Center and notched a big win over a Top 10 Wisconsin team that helped propel the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament.

Thursday night’s win wasn’t nearly that monumental, but the 60-52 victory still gave the Wildcats wins in three of their last four games and got them to within one game of .500 in league play.

Northwestern got off to an early 17-point lead and then held on in a slog of a second half in this battle between two of the most disappointing teams in the Big Ten. Northwestern shot 66.7 percent in the first half to build a 37-26 edge at the break, but then shot just 18.7 percent and committed eight turnovers in the second half as the Badgers twice cut the lead to six points down the stretch.

Dererk Pardon led Northwestern with 17 points, while Scottie Lindsey added 14 and Bryant McIntosh 10. All five starters scored eight or more points for the balanced Wildcats, who only got two points from their bench.

Wisconsin, which lost its fourth straight league game for the first time since 2009, was led by Khalil Iverson’s 15 points, while Ethan Happ added 14.

Here are our three pointers in the win that improved Northwestern’s record to 14-10 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten:

The Cats blitzed Wisconsin right out of the gate: You can't get off to a much better start than NU had against the Badgers. The Wildcats jumped out to 18-1 lead by hitting eight of their first nine shots. Gavin Skelly started the game off with a 3-pointer to touch off the run that saw four of NU’s five starters contribute points. There was a signature floater from McIntosh, a triple and swooping layup from Lindsey and a Vic Law runner in the lane mixed in. Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ matchup zone completely perplexed the Badgers, who missed their first four shots from the floor and didn't get their first field goal until the 13:38 mark, when Brad Davison hit a 3-pointer. It was the second straight sizzling start for Northwestern, which seems to have solved its problem with slow starts earlier in the season.

Pardon did some work inside: Pardon was the unexpected leader of Northwestern’s offense, even though very few plays ran through him. The junior big man got only eight shots all night, but he hit them all for his game-high 17 points. Most of them came on tip-ins, rebounded misses or baby hooks around the rim. He also anchored the Wildcats’ matchup zone and blocked three shots when the Badgers were able to penetrate the zone. He did a strong job defensively against Happ, who had four turnovers and needed a late flurry to get to double figures.

Northwestern feels at home in Madison: This is one of Wisconsin’s worst teams in years, but the Kohl Center is still known as one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten. With Thursday’s win, however, head coach Chris Collins is now 3-1 on the Badgers’ home floor. Last year, the Wildcats notched an impressive 66-59 win over then-No. 7 Wisconsin without Lindsey, who was out with mono. That was probably NU’s second-biggest victory of the regular season, behind the miracle against Michigan. In 2014, in Collins’ first year, Northwestern knocked off No. 14 Wisconsin 65-56 to give Collins a signature win in his first year in Evanston. Collins’ only loss came in 2015, a 65-50 setback to a No. 5 Badgers squad.