Buckeyes rout No. 16 Badgers
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (TNS)
COLUMBUS,
So this is how you play with a Big Ten regular-season title still within reach?
Wisconsin played its worst half of the season in the first 20 minutes, followed that with a slightly better effort in the second half but still suffered a humbling 83-73 loss to Ohio State on Thursday night at Value City Arena.
As a result, the 16th-ranked Badgers (22-6, 11-4) trail first-place Purdue (23-5, 12-3) by a full game with three games remaining.
The Boilermakers, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over UW, play Saturday at Michigan.
UW faces Michigan State on Sunday in East Lansing, Mich. The Badgers have lost their last nine games at the Breslin Center.
Ohio State (16-13, 6-10), which suffered a 23-point loss at UW earlier this season, snapped a four-game losing streak.
UW dominated play in the teams’ first meeting en route to an 89-66 victory. The Badgers hit 12 of 22 3-pointers (54.5 percent), turned 21 offensive rebounds into 28 second-chance points and outscored the Buckeyes, 42-22, in the paint.
Ohio State flipped the script Thursday.
The Buckeyes shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the opening half, pounded the ball inside at will and killed UW on the glass.
Ohio State finished with a 22-18 edge in the paint — the margin was 18-2 at halftime — and won the rebound battle, 38-25. The Buckeyes came in hitting 35.7 percent from 3-point range and made 10 of 16 attempts (62.5 percent).
The Badgers launched 57 shots, with 30 coming from 3-point range.
Bronson Koenig scored 14 points in the first half to help keep UW somewhat close. Junior forward Jae’Sean Tate recorded a double-double — in the first half with 13 points and 10 rebounds _ for Ohio State. He finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds and got plenty of help as the Buckeyes hit 25 of 50 shots overall.