MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Badgers led wire-to-wire Saturday in Madison and beat third-ranked Marquette 75-64.

The Badgers have now won the last three meetings in the series that dates back to 1917. It is the longest winning streak in the series since Wisconsin took four straight from 1998-2001.

Neenah’s Max Klesmit scored 21 points in the first half to help the Badgers build a 16-point lead.

While Marquette got within one in the second half, they could never get over the hump.

Both teams are now 6-2.

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard raved about the atmosphere and stressed how games like this are great for basketball in the state. He also made it clear that “we’ve gotten better.”

Marquette coach Shaka Smart called the result “disappointing”, but hopes lessons can be learned.

So, what did we learn from Saturday?

We already knew that Marquette’s lack of size would be a problem. They also have a lot of weapons.

From a Wisconsin perspective, they embraced the great atmosphere and showed they have a more athletic roster than they’ve had in the past.

However, a game in December, no matter how intense, does not define the season for either team.

Marquette has Texas coming Wednesday — Smart’s former team.

The Badgers have a very difficult week, opening the Big Ten season at Michigan State and then going to currently second-ranked Arizona.

Both teams will learn from Saturday, but Wisconsin has bragging rights for sure. We’ll see where both teams go from here.