It's been nine years since Ohio State made the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, but the Buckeyes reached the most bitter of 16s in Madison on Tuesday.
Ohio State (14-11, 4-10 Big Ten) dropped its 16th consecutive road game in 62-54 fashion to No. 20 Wisconsin (17-8, 9-5), tying the school record for the longest road losing streak in program history, which dates back to 1998.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 21 | 33 | 54 |
| #20 WISCONSIN | 34 | 28 | 62 |
Forward Steven Crowl paced Wisconsin with 16 points. AJ Storr and Tyler Wahl each hit double-figures for the Badgers as well, picking up 14 and 10 points.
Bruce Thornton collected 18 points for Ohio State in a losing effort. Evan Mahaffey and Roddy Gayle Jr. each got 10.
The Badgers snapped a four-game losing streak with their victory over the Buckeyes.
Ohio State has now dropped six of its last seven and nine of its last 11 games this season after a 12-2 start. Two of those losses have come against Wisconsin, who also beat Ohio State 71-60 in Value City Arena on Jan. 10.
First half
Tuesday's tilt started slow with both sides combining for just 39 points in the first 15 minutes.
A triple and a layup from Crowl helped Wisconsin build an early lead with the Badgers going up 10-4 before the first media timeout.
Mahaffey collected each of Ohio State's first six points in response, with four of them coming from a pair of two-handed slams, and a drought of over six minutes without a field goal from Wisconsin paved the way for Gayle to tie the game at 11 on a step-back three-pointer.
The Badgers pulled back ahead 18-13 and Gayle evened the score once more with another triple and a later dunk.
That's where Wisconsin took over.
Klesmit canned a triple and Storr found a fastbreak slam off a steal from Chucky Hepburn as Ohio State hit just one field goal in the final 7:08 of the first half. That sparked an extended 16-3 run for Wisconsin that put the Badgers ahead 34-21 at intermission.
The Buckeyes shot just 34.6% from the field and 2-of-9 from three in the opening 20 minutes.
Second half
| OHIO STATE | STAT | WISCONSIN |
|---|---|---|
| 54 | POINTS | 62 |
| 23-56 (41.1%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 22-50 (44%) |
| 7-18 (38.9%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 7-21 (33.3%) |
| 1-2 (50%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 11-16 (68.8%) |
| 8 | TURNOVERS | 12 |
| 26 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 39 |
| 7 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 12 |
| 19 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 27 |
| 11 | BENCH POINTS | 5 |
| 3 | BLOCKS | 0 |
| 7 | STEALS | 4 |
| 9 | ASSISTS | 13 |
Two buckets from Crowl and a three from Nolan Winter pushed Wisconsin's lead out to 17 at the start of the second period.
Thornton got hot and started to chip away a little bit. He scored Ohio State's first seven points of the half before a Bowen Hardman three-pointer cut the lead to 44-33.
Two minutes and change later, Thornton knocked down a three-pointer and found Hardman from beyond NBA three-point range on the following possession, then Devin Royal polished off an 8-0 run to make it 50-45 with 9:49 to play.
That was the closest the Buckeyes got in the second half. They hit a stretch of more than five minutes without scoring, and while the Badgers weren't seeing much scoring success either, the home team did enough to push its lead back to double digits at 57-47 with less than four minutes left.
A Hepburn three proved the dagger with less than a minute to play, putting Wisconsin up 60-47, and the Badgers cruised to victory from there.
What's next
Ohio State returns home to face No. 2 Purdue on Sunday. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. on CBS.
Game notes
- Ohio State’s 54 points were its fewest in a game since it scored only 41 points against Michigan State on Feb. 12, 2023.
- Hardman far exceeded his career-high for minutes, playing 21 minutes and scoring seven points. He played the most minutes of any player on Ohio State's bench and the fifth-most minutes of any Buckeye overall.
- Jamison Battle has hit just one three in Ohio State's last two games.
