We investigate experimentally and numerically turbulent Taylor-Couette flow with independently rotating cylinders and radius ratio η=0.5. The torque acting on the inner wall is measured to analyze the transverse current of azimuthal motion J(ω). The scaling of the torque with shear Reynolds number is determined for the outer cylinder at rest. For constant shear Reynolds number we investigate various ratios of angular velocities and find a torque maximum for counter-rotating cylinders that deviates from the prediction suggested by van Gils et al. [J. Fluid Mech. 706, 118 (2012)]. The direct comparison between the experiment and the numerical simulation shows a good agreement in the torques.