Ohio State men show life in the second half but still falls to No. 24 Wisconsin 70-68

After trailing by 17, the Buckeyes fought back to make it a one-possession game in the final seconds, but OSU falls in Madison.

The Ohio State Buckeyes (10-7, 2-4) fell to the No. 24 Wisconsin Badgers (14-3, 4-2) 70-68 Tuesday night at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisc., to pick up the Badgers 50th win over the Buckeyes in Madison.

The game got off to the worst possible start for Ohio State, especially when playing on the road, with two turnovers on the first two possessions — the first was a travel by Royal, and the second was a moving screen at the other end by Stewart. John Blackwell started off hot for Wisconsin, recording all nine of the Badger’s first nine points as the Badgers jumped ahead 9-2 after five minutes of play.

The Buckeyes started 1-for-9 from the field, with the only basket coming courtesy of a Stewart dunk. Thornton broke the cold streak with a floater, and Glover found Mahaffey on an alley-oop. However, the Badgers scored twice as well to make the score 13-6.

At the under-12 timeout, the Buckeyes were 3-for-14 from the field and, more importantly for how they play, 0-for-4 from three-point range. McGee knocked down a jumper to make the 17-6 Wisconsin with 10 minutes remaining in the half, but Bradshaw knocked down a three-pointer to cut into the Wisconsin lead.

Wisconsin went up by double-digits early and never looked back in the opening half, opening up the lead to 37-20 after the first 20 minutes.

Both teams struggled throughout the first half. Ohio State shot 9-for-28 from the field and 1-for-7 from three-point range, while Wisconsin was 11-for-25 from the field and 2-for-11 from three-point range. The main difference was that the Buckeyes were 1-for-1 from the free-throw line, while Wisconsin was 13-for-14 from the free-throw line.

The Buckeyes never got anything going offensively, as the Badgers led 37-20 heading into the half.

Crowl led the Badgers at the half with ten points and three rebounds on 3-for-7 shooting. Blackwell had nine points and five rebounds at the half, and John Tonje had six points. For Ohio State, Bradshaw and Royal had five points at the half, but Royal had four turnovers, and Bradshaw had three fouls.

Thornton, who only had two points in the first half, scored four points in the opening minute of the second half to cut the Badgers’ lead to 13. Thornton knocked down the second three-pointer of the game for Ohio State to make the score 39-27 Wisconsin.

Another three-pointer for John Mobley cut the Badger lead to single digits for the first time in the second half, and Ohio State started the first five minutes of the second half on a 10-2 run to show some life.

The Buckeyes continued to knock down shots and put Wisconsin on edge, with a Royal three-pointer with 10 minutes left making the score 48-44 Wisconsin. The Badgers got the score back to 53-46, and then a Stewart bucket and drawn charge on the defensive end gave Ohio State the momentum back. Wisconsin led 53-48 with eight minutes remaining.

The Buckeyes and Badgers traded three-pointers out of the break, one from Klesmit and one from Parrish, and Wisconsin maintained its five-point lead. Ohio State was called for three fouls in one possession to go from three team fouls to six in 30 seconds.

The Buckeyes got some fantastic minutes from an unlikely source, as Ivan Njegovan came in as Bradshaw dealt with foul trouble and was able to make his presence in the paint felt.

However, the Buckeyes had three empty possessions in a row after the clock hit the five-minute mark. Wisconsin led 65-57 with 2:19 left in the game, and Thornton headed to the free-throw line.

The Buckeyes went on a 5-0 run, punctuated by a Royal layup, to cut the deficit to three points with 30 seconds remaining. A missed Badger three gave the ball back to Ohio State with 26.8 seconds remaining. Parrish made a layup for Ohio State to cut the lead to one point, sending Wisconsin to the line with 14.9 seconds left. Blackwell missed the free throw, but Wisconsin recorded the offensive rebound to get a second chance.

McGee knocked down two free throws to give Wisconsin a three-point lead. Thornton was then fouled, knocking down both to cut the Wisconsin lead back to one point with 7.3 seconds left.

Ohio State fouled and sent Wisconsin back to the free-throw line, where they made both. Mobley was fouled with 3.7 seconds left, where he also made both. Ohio State then fouled with 1.3 seconds left and Wisconsin missed the first and made the second to make the score 70-68. Ohio State could not convert the full-court pass and the Badgers won by two.

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Up Next

On Friday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. ET, Ohio State will look to defend its home court as it hosts Indiana (13-5, 4-3), which is coming off a 25-point home loss to Illinois. Both teams will look to get back on track, and it is a big one for Ohio State because they will not want to be 2-5 in the conference heading to Mackey Arena to take on Purdue next week.