Ranked Badgers Fall to Ohio State on the Road, 86-69
After a run featuring back-to-back top-10 wins, the Wisconsin Badgers came back down to Earth in dramatic fashion, falling to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Tuesday, 86-69. One of the best offensive units in the country struggled while giving up a big shooting night on the other end.
All good things have to come to an end, but for it to come on the road against a team on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament stings a little more. This was also the first time in 12 weeks that the Badgers were in the AP Top 25 (No. 24).
Greg Gard and company are now 18-8 on the season and 10-5 in the Big Ten, while Ohio State improved to 17-9 and 9-6, boosting their tournament résumé. The season series between the two is now split at one win apiece.
Problems Started Early for the Badgers
Ohio State gave its visitors problems from the jump, going up as many as 14 points in the first half. After trailing 6-4 early, the Buckeyes never looked back, never trailing for the rest of the period.
Wisconsin shot an abysmal 1-for-8 from three-point range, shooting 1-for-2 from the free-throw line. The ball security was also a major struggle, as Ohio State frequently switched between man-to-man and zone defenses. The Badgers gave up seven turnovers in 20 minutes.
Nolan Winter and John Blackwell combined for 17 of Wisconsin’s 26 first-half points, while Devin Royal notched 16 in 16 minutes. Overall, the home team put up 52-46-100 shooting splits in the half, knocking down six threes and scoring 11 points off turnovers.
38-26 at the break, the Badgers desperately needed an answer, struggling to finish through contact and hit anything from the outside. The bench struggled to give them any help early on, with just two points. Ohio State recorded three separate 8-0 runs, one of which came within the final four minutes.
Offense Improved, Defense Remained the Same
The Badgers were keeping up with the Buckeyes out of the break, but the deficit was too much. What’s more is that while the offensive output did improve, the other side of the floor remained stagnant. For every basket Wisconsin put up, Ohio State responded.
It was disappointing considering Braeden Carrington had another unbelievable shooting performance. The 6-foot-5 senior finished with 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field and 5-for-12 from downtown.
On the other side, Royal and Bruce Thornton combined for 52 of the Buckeyes’ 86 points. The team finished with 54-52-68 shooting splits. They were taking full advantage of poor rotations, scoring with good ball movement that led to open threes.
While the confidence to shoot the deep ball never wavered, they just couldn’t go down. The stars, Blackwell and Nick Boyd, combined for just 28 points on 11-for-26 shooting. Wisconsin shot 26.9% from deep and 50% from the charity stripe, while turnovers continued to be an issue (12).
