COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the four games since its setback in the desert to then-No.1 Arizona, Wisconsin had averaged 81.5 points per game, blown teams out by an average of 17.3 points per game, and showcased an unselfish, efficient style of basketball.

It could be argued that on a night when things were an offensive struggle, the Badgers learned more about how talented and potent their team could become.

Wisconsin was out of sorts for the first 10 minutes and at one point didn’t make a field goal for over seven minutes in the second half, but the 15th-ranked Badgers left Value City Arena the only undefeated team in Big Ten play by coming from behind to knock off Ohio State, 71-60, at Value City Arena.

“I’ve always known we have a gritty, tough group,” head coach Greg Gard said. “I knew that last year. I thought we had some toughness to us, and you could fight your way through. Saturday everybody thought we were the LA Lakers offensively. Tonight was more of a grinder. This is more typical of what you see in the Big Ten (with) two teams guarding really well.

“You have to have some grit and some toughness. It’s not going to come easy all the time. Most of the time it’s not. You have to dig deep. It’s good to know that this group has a lot of grit to them.” Here are my takeaways from Wisconsin’s triumph, giving the Badgers their first 4-0 Big Ten start in 11 seasons.

It’s impossible to make a distinction of who delivered a more sizable impact for the Badgers’ offense. UW is likely getting blown out in the first half without A.J. Storr’s dominance, mainly in the low post, and the Badgers likely don’t pull out their fourth win away from home without Max Klesmit becoming a cold-blooded shooter, as point guard Chucky Hepburn aptly described him.

Start with Klesmit and his 18 points, all of which came in the second half and 16 of which came in the final 8:43. From the 12:26 mark to the final 11 seconds, Klesmit was the only UW player to make a field goal, and he made all four of his shots, each one growing the momentum for Wisconsin and deflating Ohio State.

His open three-pointer at the elbow ended a field goal drought of 7 minutes, 10 seconds, giving UW its final lead at 57-56 with 5:16 left. He crossed over freshman guard Scotty Middleton two possessions later, making a driving layup at the rim uncontested. His open three-pointer on the next possession capped a personal 8-0 run.

But it was a fadeaway jumper at the free throw line over the 6-foot-7 Jamison Battle that was a killer, causing Hepburn to yell “cold-blooded” outside the locker room when Klesmit was asked about it.

“I feel the same way every game, not going to lie,” said Klesmit, who was 5-for-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the foul line in the second half. “Try to keep the same mentality, same approach … You get out there and you might not be ready for it because your whole preparation is different. These guys that are behind me, we’re a whole group here. It’s easy to feed off their confidence and their energy.”

As important as all those shots were, it was four free throws Klesmit made roughly seven minutes earlier that created the spark. UW was in a stretch of eight missed shots in a row, but Klesmit putting the ball on the floor and driving through contact to get free throws was the spark he and the offense needed.

“Max knows when to take over,” said Hepburn, as UW closed the game on a 19-4 run. “He did a very good job getting downhill. It felt like he was heating up, so we got the ball to him. He made plays down the stretch. That’s what we need from our guys.”

UW and Klesmit might not have been in that position without Storr, who after scoring 17 points has reached double figures against every Big Ten opponent and is averaging 19.5 points in two Big Ten road wins at Michigan State and Ohio State.

Taking a third of UW’s shots (36.7) and scoring 42.9 percent of UW’s points (15) in the first half, Storr helped push UW into the locker room with a 35-33 lead with his ability to attack the rim, the baseline, find space in the mid-range, and even knock down a perimeter shot. He was held to only four shots in the second half, but the extra attention the Buckeyes gave him opened opportunities for others.

“A lot of the things they did defensively were sort of similar to Nebraska in the way ball screens funneled us into the baseline,” Klesmit said. “I think A.J. did a pretty good job in the second half of staying patient, letting things come to him … He draws so much attention every game that when he’s making the right plays, he’s a boost of energy.”

Storr is averaging 17.8 ppg in Wisconsin’s four road games this season.

Jamison Battle couldn’t beat Wisconsin in two seasons in the maroon and gold. A change of uniform appeared to be what the fifth-year senior needed to finally get the better of the Badgers.

Battle had four cracks to knock off Wisconsin during his tenure at Minnesota and came up short, averaging 15.5 points in a pair of losses two seasons ago and just 9.0 points in two losses by a combined seven points last season.

After struggling like the Badgers did last season at generating offense, the Buckeyes brought Battle in to score, and he did a lot of that early. He scored 14 points on six shots in the first half, hitting four three-pointers which came in the face of Klesmit, Tyler Wahl, and John Blackwell.

He didn’t enjoy the same amount of success in the second half. Dogged by Klesmit and others, Battle was held to only four points on five shots, couldn’t attempt a three, and could generate minimal momentum when the Badgers spun their wheels during those seven scoreless minutes.

“Max has become one of the better defenders in our league, and he had help,” Gard said. “John had him for a little bit. Chucky even had him in some situations.

Ohio State’s starting backcourt of Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr. entered as one of the best duos in the Big Ten, averaging 31.4 points, 7.5 assists, and 8.5 rebounds per game. UW had trouble with Thornton early but held the duo to 22 points on 10-for-30 shooting, eight assists, six rebounds, and four turnovers.

Hepburn had a big part of that. Playing a season-high 36:49, Hepburn registered four steals to go with four assists, four rebounds, seven points, and one turnover.

Suffering a left knee injury in practice, Steven Crowl didn’t know he would be playing until he went through warmups and decided to give it a go, gutting through 28 minutes despite being far from 100 percent.

He admitted he wasn’t himself, more of a presence on the floor, which shows in his first-half stat line of no points on two shots, four rebounds, two assists, and two turnovers. He made it a point to be more active and aggressive to start the second half.

Crowl hit a post jumper on the first possession, couldn’t finish a second-chance opportunity off his offensive rebound on the second possession, and fed forward Tyler Wahl in the low post for a bucket on the third possession.

Nearing the 12-minute mark, Crowl backed down forward Zed Key for a low-post bucket and three-point play opportunity that gave UW its largest lead at the time (48-42).

“I felt pretty limited out there, but we got the job done,” said Crowl, who said he’s not worried about anything long-term with his knee. “I found other ways to impact the game, whether it’s playing defense, getting rebounds, or doing the little things.”

Ohio State entered the game third in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (+7.0) and 17th in the country with a 37.1 offensive rebounding percentage. Crowl’s team-high six rebounds (three offensive) helped the Badgers minimize the damage of being outrebounded 34-32 and getting outscored 10-6 on second-chance points, although UW held a 32-28 edge in points in the paint.

Freshman Nolan Winter helped fill in the gap left by Crowl, as he scored a career-high seven points in a Big Ten-high 12 minutes.

“He’s been getting better in every game and every practice I’ve seen since he got here in the summer,” Crowl said. “He continues to grow, and I think he’ll be a great player here.”

0 – Wisconsin committed only five turnovers Wednesday but none by its five reserves in over 42 combined minutes on the court. The Badgers are second in the Big Ten averaging just 9.6 TOs per game.

4 – The Badgers picked up their fourth Quad-1 win of the season to improve to 4-3 in Quad 1 games and 7-3 in Quad 1&2. UW doesn’t have a loss outside Quad-1 this season.

11 - Eleven of Wisconsin's 12 wins have come by double figures. The only outlier was an eight-point win over SMU. UW only won seven games by at least 10 points last season.

17 - Over the last three seasons, UW is 17-10 in true road games, joining UCLA (18), Miami (17) and Arizona (17) as the only major conference teams with at least 17 road wins since 2021-22.

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