All the king’s horses and all the king’s men are unlikely to put Wisconsin’s NCAA Tournament hopes together again.
In the first tournament meeting between the two schools in 10 years, Ohio State strung together nine straight field goals in the first half and hung on to its lead in defeating Wisconsin, 65-57, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center in Chicago.
Senior Tyler Wahl came alive in the second half to score 17 of his 19 points and grab nine of his 10 rebounds for the Badgers (17-14), which likely needed to win a couple games to strengthen their NCAA Tournament profile. Instead, Wisconsin fell flat on both ends of the floor in the opening 20 minutes and never fully recovered.
UW shot 30.4 percent from the floor in the opening half and missed all seven perimeter shots, while Ohio State (14-18) shot 68.2 percent from the floor, including a stretch where the Buckeyes made nine consecutive shots (two more than UW made the entire half).
In the Badgers’ 65-60 win in Columbus, Wisconsin led by as many as 18 points in the second half before the Buckeyes charged back. A little over a month later, the Badgers tried to make a charge after starting the second half 1-for-8 and trailed at one point by a season-high 27 points.
Connor Essegian, Chucky Hepburn, and Wahl made their first three-pointers on consecutive possessions with less than four minutes to go, a 19-2 run over 8:30 (including an 11-0 run over 1:49) cut the deficit to 57-52 with 2:13 to go.
But Max Klesmit – a 39.6 percent perimeter shooter – missed a wide-open three-point try at the top of the key and Hepburn missed another open one on the ensuing possession, as Wisconsin could get no closer than four points.
Sean McNeil had 17 points for the Buckeyes, who finished shooting 52.3 percent overall and advanced to face No.5-seed Iowa in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
Wisconsin trailed 11-6 and possessed the ball but Hepburn post entry pass to Steven Crowl was too high and resulted in a turnover. The Buckeyes hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and took off, making nine straight attempts that turned a two-possession lead into a 16-point blowout.
Needing to win the conference’s automatic bid in over to advance to a sixth straight NCAA Tournament, Ohio State played like the more desperate team early. The Buckeyes built a 10-point lead by the under-8 media timeout by shooting 66.7 percent from the field (10-for-15) and limiting the Badgers to only 4-for-13, including four misses from three-point range.
That double-digit lead was significant because Wisconsin hadn’t won a game all season when trailing by 10 points or more.
What it means: Wisconsin’s NCAA Tournament bid still has a pulse but it’s pretty faint. Greg Gard said before the game that he felt the Badgers’ resume was good enough to make the field. He’ll have four days to think about those remarks as UW will have a nervous wait until Selection Sunday.
Star of the game: Held to five points on just 2-for-8 shooting in the first meeting, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half to build a sizeable lead.
Stat of the game: Jordan Davis hit the Badgers' first 3-pointer of the game after 25:43, breaking a string of 10 straight misses. The Badgers were 4-for-22 from the perimeter.
Reason to be Concerned: Wisconsin's starting guards were 6-for-25 from the floor: Essegian is 4-for-13, Hepburn was 2-for-9, and Klesmit finished 0-for-3.
Don’t overlook: The Buckeyes improved to 5-1 against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament.
What’s next: Wisconsin will await Selection Sunday and hope for a miracle that the Badgers somehow get an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. It appears highly unlikely now that Wisconsin went 9-12 against Big Ten competition and had a losing record in both Quad-1 (6-7) and Quad-2 games (5-6). UW will likely get an opportunity to play in the NIT for the first time since 1996, a benefit for a younger roster to get postseason experience but still massively disappointing in a season in which it started 11-2.
