Ohio State Fights Back From 17-Point Halftime Deficit at No. 24 Wisconsin But Ultimately Falls Short, 70-68

After falling behind 37-20 at halftime following an abysmal first half on the offensive end, Ohio State cut Wisconsin's lead to five points or less eight times in the second half, then to one point three times in the final 17 seconds.

But the Buckeyes could never climb the mountain of their early deficit. Ohio State (10-7, 2-4 Big Ten) fell to the No. 24 Badgers (14-3, 4-2), 70-68, in the Kohl Center on Tuesday.

Guard John Tonje paced Wisconsin, scoring 17 points and shooting 10-for-10 at the free-throw line. Fellow guard John Blackwell picked up 15 while forward Steven Crowl added 14.

Guard Bruce Thornton put forth a furious effort in defeat for the Buckeyes, collecting 21 points, 19 of them in the second half. Forward Devin Royal followed with 12 points.

First Half

Ohio State's offense showed all the scoring prowess of a kindergartener on the playground in the early stretches of the game.

The Buckeyes started 1-of-9 from the field and 0-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc as foul trouble crippled their interior. Center Aaron Bradshaw picked up his second foul with 14:33 remaining in the first half and his third with 7:56 in the period. Forward Sean Stewart picked up two in the first six minutes as well.

Blackwell put the pedal to the floor after the Badgers got out to their own slow offensive start. He scored nine points in a row to spark an 11-0 Wisconsin run that made it 11-2 in the opening minutes. It was a lead the team never relinquished.

Four quick points from Crowl and a Kamari McGee jumper pushed the edge to double digits at 17-6 and the Badgers kept the Buckeyes at arm's length the rest of the first half. A long triple off the hand of Carter Gilmore expanded the lead to 13 several minutes later at 29-16 Wisconsin, then the Badgers closed the half on an 8-0 run to make it 37-20 at halftime.

Ohio State shot 32.1% from the field and was whistled for 12 total fouls in the first half, seeing Wisconsin go 13-of-14 at the free-throw line.

Second Half

Thornton came out of halftime trying to infuse some energy into his team, scoring seven straight Ohio State points to cut the lead to 39-27. John Mobley Jr. splashed a transition 3-pointer and suddenly the deficit was back to single digits at the first media timeout, 39-30.

A McGee 3 and a nasty reverse slam by Tonje pushed the advantage back to 13 only for Thornton to convert back-to-back baskets and slice it to nine again. Center Ivan Njegovan, picking up minutes with Bradshaw and Stewart's foul trouble, cut the deficit to seven with a stick-back, then Royal rolled home a 3-pointer and suddenly it was a 48-44 ballgame.

Max Klesmit hit a nasty stepback 3 with time waning on the shot clock for Wisconsin but Micah Parrish answered with a triple of his own, Ohio State stayed hanging around at the under-eight media timeout at 56-51. Crowl came out and hit a baby hook, Thornton answered with a floater.

But the Buckeyes never put together enough of a run to even the game. Wisconsin continued hitting free throws and Tonje converted a triple to make it 65-57, but a trio of free throws from Thornton and Mobley made it a five-point ballgame again at 65-60 with 1:39 to play.

Royal worked his way open for a layup and Ohio State trailed by a single possession for the first time since it was down 5-2. The Buckeyes got the ball back with 27 seconds to play and tried to work open for a game-tying 3-pointer, but Parrish ultimately drove to the basket for an easy layup to make it 65-64 with 17 seconds remaining.

Wisconsin missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but a long rebound was batted out to McGee to give the Badgers a second bite at the apple, hitting both. Wisconsin fouled Thornton, who hit both, and it was 67-66 with seven seconds remaining. Tonje got back to the line and hit both again, Mobley was fouled going back the other way and hit both rather than missing a second on purpose to make it 69-68 with four seconds left.

Blackwell recorded Wisconsin's first miss at the free-throw line in what felt like an eon, but Royal stepped on the sideline trying to fire a desperation heave from beyond the arc to close the loss.

What's Next

Ohio State gets a chance to recover from back-to-back losses to ranked teams by returning to Value City Arena to face a 13-5 Indiana team on Friday. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Game Notes

• Ohio State had as many turnovers (nine) and more fouls (12) in the first half than it had made field goals.
• It took Ohio State less than 10 minutes to score more points in the second half than it did all of the first half.
• The Buckeyes are now 1-3 in January this year and 4-13 in their last three Januaries combined.