Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers

Date: Friday, March 13
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Place: Conseco Fieldhouse – capacity 18,345
TV: ESPN with Brent “Pard’ner” Musburger, Steve “Hair Gel” Lavin, and Erin Andrews-Barker.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus and 58 more stations across Buckeyeland on the Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes.
Tournament History: Ohio State is 9-7 all-time in the Big Ten tournament and 2-1 vs. Wisconsin.
Last Time: The last time Ohio State and Wisconsin met in the Big Ten tournament was back in 2007 as the Buckeyes and Badgers squared off in the championship game with OSU winning 66-49. Mike Conley scored 18 points, Ron Lewis added 17, and Greg Oden finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Right: Junior guard Trevon Hughes is averaging 14.2 points per game in the last five outings for Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Ohio State and Wisconsin will meet up for the fourth time in the history of the Big Ten tournament with the Buckeyes winning two out of the three games when both schools have faced each other in postseason play.

Back in 2003, Ohio State defeated Wisconsin in the quarterfinals, and in 2007, the Buckeyes topped the Badgers in the championship game. The Badgers lone win over OSU in the Big Ten tournament came in the 2005 quarterfinals.

Overall, this will be the 149th meeting between OSU and UW since the teams first met back in 1905, and the Buckeyes lead the all-time series 83-65, though the Badgers have won 9 out of the last 12 contests.

Fourth-seeded Wisconsin has won seven of its last nine games. During that stretch, their opponents are averaging 52.8 points per game against UW. The Badgers have posted a +3.8 turnover margin, forcing 114
turnovers (12.7 avg.), while coughing up the rock 80 times (8.9 avg.) during that span.

Senior forward Marcus Landry, a second-team, All-Big Ten selection by the coaches (third team from
the media), leads the Badgers in scoring (12.7 ppg), ranks second in rebounds per game (4.5 rpg) and field goal percentage (.500).

Junior guard Trevon Hughes is second on the Badgers’ roster in scoring, averaging 11.9 points per game, and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.64, ranking him eighth in the Big Ten.

Most of the rest of Wisconsin’s roster is filled with a bunch of big, goofy white guys.

The Badgers’ top rebounder is senior swingman Joe Krabbenhoft, who is averaging 6.7 caroms per contest, good for sixth-best in the conference.

Junior guard Jason Bohannon is one of three Badgers’ averaging in double figures at a clip of 10.2 points per game, while sophomore forward Jon Leuer rounds out the starting five by chipping in 9.2 points per ballgame.

The last time both schools played against each other was back on Valentine’s Day as the Badgers won 55-50 at the Kohl Center.

Ohio State did two things that they can’t afford to do this time around if they expect to win. First, they have to rebound. Back on Feb. 14, OSU was outrebounded 32-22 and gave up 15 offensive boards. It was also one of the reasons why the UW had 17 more field goal attempts than OSU, and the Buckeyes did end up shooting the ball well from the floor (21-38, 55.3%).

The other reason why Ohio State lost while attempting far fewer shots was because the Buckeyes turned the ball over 19 times. Not going to win too many games if you can’t take care of the ball.

Evan Turner scored a team-high 23 points, but he also had a team-high six turnovers. B.J. Mullens played 21 minutes and had seven points, but coughed up the orange sphere five times.

On paper, I think Ohio State has the better team. It just all depends on who shows up to play. Turner has been consistent all year, but can the Buckeyes get any production from Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale in the low post? If that happens, you can chalk up a “W” for the Scarlet & Gray.

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