Decent first half, poor second half equals loss.

That was the equation as the unranked Wisconsin Badgers defeated the 12th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 78-73 at the Kohl Center, Wednesday night.

Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half to lead the Badgers, after the Buckeyes held a 37-28 lead at halftime.

Wisconsin defended the perimeter quite well all night, limiting Ohio State to just 17 three-point field goal attempts with the Buckeyes making just four of them.

With UW’s tight defense on the outside, that opened up the inside for OSU’s Terence Dials, who led the Buckeyes with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

After a tight, seesaw beginning to the game, a three-pointer by Ohio State’s Ron Lewis put the Buckeyes ahead 17-14 with 10:38 remaining in the first half. It would be a lead Ohio State would not relinquish until the final three minutes of the game.

Ohio State led by as many as 13 points in the first half after a trey by senior forward Matt Sylvester put the Buckeyes on top 35:22 with 2:22 left.

Wisconsin went on the score the next four points to cut into the lead and trailed 37-28 at halftime.

With Ohio State ahead 64-59 with 5:10 remaining to play in the game, Wisconsin scored seven straight points, a three-point field goal and a short jumper by guard Ray Nixon, along with a pair of free throws by Tucker that put the Badgers ahead 66-64 with 2:54 left.

After a jumper by OSU’s Jamar Butler tied the game once again, it was a three-pointer by Nixon that gave the Badgers’ the lead for good with 2:25 left, making the score 69-66.

Ohio State held Wisconsin to 28 first half points, but were torched for 50 in the final 20 minutes.

One big concern is that Wisconsin outrebounded Ohio State 38-27, and the Badgers’ had 15 offensive boards that led to 20 second-chance points. Meanwhile, Ohio State had seven offensive rebounds for a grand total of two second-chance points.

Also, Ohio State’s hot shooting went ice cold in Madison as the Buckeyes’ were a respectable 3-of-8 in the first half, but a pathetic 1-of-9 in the second behind the three-point line.

Butler had another solid outing with 17 points, and Sylvester was the only other Buckeye to score in double figures with 14. Je’Kel Foster struggled all night, shooting just 3-of-9 from the field including 1-of-5 from beyond the arc for seven points.

Along with Tucker, three other Badgers’ scored in double digits with center Brian Butch adding 17, Nixon chipping in 13, and Kammron Taylor dropping down a dozen.

Up next, the Buckeyes’ will host the Northwestern Wildcats at Value City Arena on Saturday. Tip-off time is scheduled for 12:15 pm.

Tags: Buckeye Basketball //