Wisconsin applies defense to defeat Ohio State, 58-53
The Badgers climbed ahead of Purdue and Indiana for the Big Ten lead.
COLUMBUS (AP) — They’ll seldom win a slam-dunk contest or get featured on a SportsCenter highlight. Heck, most of them don’t look like they could touch the rim.
About all that’s impressive about the Wisconsin Badgers is how hard they play, particularly on that unglamorous half of the game known as defense.
Jason Bohannon came off the bench to score 16 points and the 11th-ranked Badgers relied on their gritty defense to hold off Ohio State 58-53 Sunday.
“We played some great defense, especially down the stretch when they were trying to get the [tying] 3-pointer,” Bohannon said. “They didn’t really get a clean look at the hoop.”
The Buckeyes didn’t score over the last 3:15 and had only one field goal in the final 81⁄2 minutes. For much of that time, they were within a shot of catching the Badgers. But the Badgers weren’t having any of that.
Part of that was due to the young Buckeyes’ shot selection, but most of it was Wisconsin’s physical, stifling defense, which allows just 55.4 points a game, second-best in the nation.
“On defense, they locked up and we locked up,” Wisconsin’s Brian Butch said. “It was a typical Big Ten finish. We just happened to make a few more plays on the defensive end. It’s not like we made a lot of plays on the offensive end, but it was plays at the defensive end that won that game for us.”
The victory moved the Badgers (23-4, 13-2) a half-game ahead of Purdue and Indiana for the Big Ten lead heading into the final two weeks of play.
Wisconsin used a late 9-0 run to take the lead and then put the clamps on Ohio State (17-10, 8-6).
“We had ourselves in position and we talked about it all week: We were going to have to make some plays,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “We were where we wanted to be and it just didn’t go down.”
Michael Flowers had 14 points and Marcus Landry 10 for the Badgers.
Jamar Butler, Ohio State’s captain and leading scorer, was held out of the starting lineup by Matta for an undisclosed “coach’s decision.” Matta said he liked the lineup he started and had worked with those five players most of the week, yet Butler was on the floor for the final 36 minutes.
He led the Buckeyes with 14 points, Kosta Koufos adding 10 points and 10 rebounds. Ohio State has lost four of its last six.