COLUMBUS (AP) -- Jim O'Brien resigned on Tuesday. No, not Ohio State's coach but rather the one with

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Jim O'Brien resigned on Tuesday. No, not Ohio State's coach but rather the one with the same name in charge of the Boston Celtics.
The way things are going for the Buckeyes, however, it wouldn't have been a shocker if the guy stepping aside had been Ohio State's head man the past seven years. After all, just about everything seems to go wrong these days for O'Brien and his team.
A day after guard Tony Stockman returned to the team after being held out of a game with a bad attitude, the team said forward Matt Sylvester was lost for at least a month with a foot injury.
The Buckeyes (9-9, 1-4) are struggling to find their equilibrium at precisely the wrong time in the schedule. This week, they take on No. 17 Wisconsin on Wednesday night at home before traveling to No. 21 Purdue on Saturday.
"This is obviously going to be a difficult week for us," the Ohio State coach said. "The bad news is who we're playing and the good news is that three out of our next four are at home. That's nice to know. Now we've got the top two teams in the conference in consecutive games -- especially in the predicament we're in right now, being 1-4 in the league. We can't continue to slide a whole lot more."
The Buckeyes hit a low note on Saturday in a 79-65 loss to Iowa. Ineffective underneath and on the perimeter, Ohio State was never in the game after the opening five minutes.
Stockman, the Buckeyes' leading scorer at 13 points a game, did not make the trip. He was held back by O'Brien who was unhappy with his attitude and performance. But the junior guard returned to the team for Monday's practice and pronounced himself ready after taking the weekend off.
"I'm happy to be back," Stockman said after Tuesday's practice. Asked to explain why he was left at home, he said, "I was just a little frustrated with myself and how the team is doing. I was down on myself a bit and had a bad practice (on Thursday)."
O'Brien said Stockman would start against Wisconsin. Stockman said there were no hard feelings.
"I understand everything coach did and I don't disagree with him," Stockman said. "It's not like I was mad at him or anything like that. Now I'm back and I'm ready to play."
Wisconsin (13-3, 4-1) shared the Big Ten lead with Purdue and Indiana coming into this week. But the Badgers have not been invincible when they have played on the road. They're unbeaten at home but just 1-3 away.
"We've played in some tough environments already this year," coach Bo Ryan said. "They (the Badgers) understand that the game doesn't change. The dimensions are the same. You don't bring out the "Hoosiers" film and measure the rim ... but they understand when they go on the road some things become tougher."
The Buckeyes recognize that the Badgers may be their toughest opponent so far this season.
"We have to play solid ball, cut the turnovers down and we have to start making some shots," guard Nick Dials said. "That's been holding us back a little bit."
Brandon Fuss-Cheatham, who led the Buckeyes at Iowa with 17 points, said it's a case of simple mathematics for Ohio State.
"Our goal is to put two and two together, on both offense and defense," he said. "We have to control the pace of the game and we also have to start making some shots. We've been holding teams to 60 points, but we haven't been scoring 60."
Ohio State is shooting just 43 percent from the field, 32 percent on 3-pointers and 65 percent at the line in Big Ten play.
Likewise, Ryan said the game plan is simple from the Badgers' standpoint.
"You try not to let teams at home go on big runs," he said.