Ohio State basketball has seen quite a few low points the last two seasons.
Saturday night's loss to Nebraska, where the Buckeyes blew a five-point lead with just over 30 seconds to play and fell in regulation, felt like it very well could have been rock bottom.
Head coach Thad Matta was as visibly defeated following a loss as he's ever been. He used the word "dumbfounded" when he attempted to describe what happened against the Huskers. Junior center Trevor Thompson sat stonefaced at the table for a postgame press conference and uttered a total of five words.
| WHO | WHERE | WHEN | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin (22-5, 11-3 B1G) | Value City Arena | 9 p.m. | ESPN |
Over the last two seasons, Ohio State has a total of 27 losses and counting. This one felt different.
It's not getting any easier for the Buckeyes, either. Ohio State hosts 16th-ranked Wisconsin on Thursday night, a team which routed it by 23 points in the first meeting this season.
Let's break down the matchup between the Buckeyes and Badgers a little further.
Opponent Breakdown
Wisconsin enters Thursday's game 22-5 overall and 11-3 in the Big Ten — just one-half game behind Purdue for first place in the conference standings. The Badgers recently lost back-to-back games for the first time all season — to Northwestern and Michigan — but rebounded their last time out in a 71-60 victory over Maryland on Sunday.
Wisconsin starts four seniors in addition to Ethan Happ, a likely first-team All-Big Ten performer. The Badgers are what they are and they've been that way for a long time with mainstays like Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig.
"Wisconsin is Wisconsin," Matta said. "They're a great team."
Koenig missed Wisconsin's game against Michigan with a calf injury but returned to the lineup against Maryland though he did not start. He scored nine points off the bench — all in the second half.
The Badgers rank 16th nationally in Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistical ratings. Wisconsin has the nation's seventh-ranked defense (90.8 points allowed per 100 possessions) and the 37th-rated offense (114.6 points per 100 possessions).
Happ leads the way offensively for the Badgers as the redshirt sophomore big man averages 16.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in Big Ten play. Hayes gives Wisconsin 13.6 points and 6.3 boards per league contest while Koenig averages 11.9 points on over 40 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line.
The Badgers dominated the first meeting between these two as they handed Ohio State its worst loss of the season. Koenig scored 21, Hayes had 15 and Vitto Brown added 12 points as Wisconsin shot almost 50 percent from the field and hit 12 3s.
The Buckeyes certainly have their hands full.
"I think we definitely need to get some kind of revenge," center Micah Potter said. "We didn't come ready to play against them when we played them at their place and that showed. We got manhandled, plain and simple, so I think we've got a little bit of a chip on our shoulder coming into this next game and we're all focused and ready to go."
Buckeye Breakdown
Ohio State led Nebraska for 37:31 of Saturday's game and held a five-point lead with 32 seconds to play after Marc Loving hit a 3-pointer to put the Buckeyes up, 57-52.
But a fadeaway 3 by the Huskers' Jack McVeigh followed by a forced jump ball gave the visitors the ball back down two with just 21 seconds remaining. Glynn Watson Jr. drove the lane, flipped up a shot that went in and was fouled with 11 seconds left. He made the free throw and suddenly Nebraska had a one-point lead. Ohio State's ensuing possession resulted in a busted play and a desperation heave that went awry and suddenly the Huskers had stunned the Buckeyes.
"I guess the way we lost, you could put it in a sense, tragic," point guard C.J. Jackson said. "But dwelling on the loss this past Saturday is not going to help us for [Thursday] with a great team like Wisconsin coming in here."
With three games remaining in the regular season, Ohio State's goal now is simply to avoid playing on the opening day of the Big Ten tournament. The Buckeyes are currently tied with Indiana for 12th in the league with a 5-10 conference record; Ohio State must finish in the top-10 to avoid playing Wednesday in Washington D.C.
It's rather stunning it's come to this point, but that's where the Buckeyes are right now.
"You’ve got a very good opponent coming in here and we’ve got to obviously play better basketball, smarter basketball. We’ve got to play harder in what we’re doing," Matta said. "That’s sort of the focus. The one thing in college basketball that’s good and bad is you can dwell on what’s happened but it’s like ‘Gosh, how do we get ourselves ready to try and do our best the next game?’ That’s kind of been where we have tried to take this basketball team.”
How It Plays Out
These are two teams at the complete opposite ends of the spectrum in the current Big Ten landscape. Wisconsin is hoping to win a league title; Ohio State is fighting to avoid the cellar.
The Buckeyes are also attempting to elude their second four-game losing streak in the Big Ten. Ohio State started conference play with an 0-4 record.
KenPom doesn't give the home team a great chance at pulling the upset as Wisconsin has a 66 percent chance at victory. The projection is a five-point win for the Badgers.
This feels like it'll be a rather low-scoring game, and though Ohio State has fared better in those contests this year as opposed to high scoring ones, if it's close the Badgers have the edge. This game will be closer than the first meeting, but Wisconsin has too much in the second half.
Tim's prediction: Wisconsin 70, Ohio State 63
