Despite longtime coach Dick Bennett’s resignation three games into its season, No. 19 Wisconsin had continued its businesslike agenda of relentless defense, fine-tuned fundamentals and most importantly, winning.

That is, until last week.

Wisconsin (11-4, 2-3 Big Ten) returned home to the Kohl Center Tuesday with a 67-54 win over No. 14 Iowa — a much-needed pick-me-up after a brutal road stretch in which the Badgers dropped three consecutive games:

Wisconsin was upset by Minnesota and Purdue before a backbreaking overtime loss to Michigan State sent them scurrying home.

In Saturday night’s game, Wisconsin squandered a five-point lead in the final minute of regulation as Spartans guard Charlie Bell nailed a game-tying three-pointer with 28.5 seconds remaining. No. 3 Michigan State then proceeded to blitz the Badgers 12-2 in overtime.

“We really were stung on Saturday by that loss,” said Wisconsin interim coach Brad Soderberg. “I know it was really hard for our players and our staff to swallow that one because we felt we played real hard and real well.”

Until Tuesday, Iowa (14-3, 3-1) was one of the conference’s hottest teams. The Big Ten-leading Hawkeyes surged last week in road wins over No. 8 Illinois and Purdue.

Iowa guard Luke Recker, a transfer from Indiana (by way of Arizona), exploded for a season-high 27 points in Iowa City, handing the Fighting Illini their first Big Ten loss.

“Our guys are just listening — they are really paying attention to things,” Iowa coach Steve Alford said. “They’ve been very focused, whether it’s been with walk-throughs, shootarounds or practices. I think they’ve gone into buildings expecting to win.”

RAINING THREES: When they saw Ohio State shot blocker Ken Johnson posted under the basket, Penn State players simply ran away. And it paid off, as the Nittany Lions drained 13 three-pointers to fuel a 78-75 victory last week in Columbus.

Penn State (11-3, 2-2) got most of its long-range lift from guards Joe Crispin and Titus Ivory, who knocked in a combined nine treys in the game. After making only one of five three-pointers in the first half, Crispin, the Big Ten’s leading scorer (23 points per game), gave the Lions a 49-46 lead with back-to-back bombs.

“Everybody is aware of the ability of Joe Crispin,” Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said, “but I think we have to make sure everybody is involved because on any given night people can do different things to negate his involvement.”

The Lions head to Bloomington tonight to face an inconsistent Indiana team, which followed its upset of then-No. 1 Michigan State with a deflating 70-64 loss to the Big Ten’s bottom-feeder, Michigan, last week. Indiana interim coach Mike Davis attributed his team’s spotty play to inexperience.

“We beat Michigan State and took a step in the right direction as a basketball team, then played Michigan 48 hours after that and took two steps back,” Davis said. “We have a young team that is not mature enough to bounce back after a big win.”

HOOSIERS HOT SEAT: With Davis more than halfway through his first season in the hot seat at Indiana, his progress was assessed by Purdue’s Gene Keady, who also commented on the difficulties of coaching in the Hoosier State:

“Mike Davis is a young coach and doing quite well, considering he’s never been a head coach before,” Keady said. “This state is very demanding toward that, and if you didn’t know that coming in, you would not have taken the job. We all put more pressure on ourselves than the state does.”