Wisconsin is not going to apologize for nearly letting an 18-point lead on the road slip away, hypothetical consequences that could have disastrous ramifications in the games ahead. After the month of January the Badgers endured, they take the wins any way they can get them.

So, while there are plenty of learning lessons to digest and things to continue to be concerned about, the Badgers’ 65-60 victory over Ohio State at Value City Arena proved that they have the potential to be a solid team when they adhere to the program’s tried and true fundamental principles.

Here are my takeaways from Wisconsin’s first road victory since December 11.

Wisconsin jogged into the locker room coming off its best first half of the season. The Badgers’ 43 points were a season-high, buoyed by an offense that shot 51.6 percent from the floor and averaged 1.23 points per possession. The scoring was balanced with three players in double figures and the end results were somewhat predictable because the Badgers were committed to getting the ball touched in the post.

On the first possession off the tip, Steven Crowl bounced a feed into a cutting Connor Essegian at the low block. When the look wasn’t there, the Badgers reset and Chucky Hepburn was able to hit a cutting Essegian, who finished at the rim.

On the next possession, Max Klesmit pumped fake to get his defender to commit, dribbled into the lane to draw a double team, and passed to Essegian, who hit the open three-point shot. That was the case for most of the first half, the Badgers being aggressive, getting the ball in the paint, and creating opportunities in transition.

On the same account, the Badgers prevented Ohio State from having any type of flow or energy. Other than allowing a little too much action at the rim, the Badgers defended well, forced 11 turnovers on a team that only averaged 10.9, and held them to .794 points per possession.

Klesmit delivered a layup on Wisconsin’s opening possession to push the lead to 18 points, a comfortable working margin the Badgers rarely have had this season against any opponent. It didn’t last, as Wisconsin allowed another opponent to garner traction because of breakdowns on both ends of the floor.

Head coach Greg Gard said he was expecting Ohio State to charge back but the thrust was aided by UW’s self-inflicted mistakes. UW was sloppy with ball security after that 18-point lead, a 7-0 run on the next five possessions that was created by two UW turnovers. The Badgers still went inside (6-for-9 on layups) but the ball movement and offense didn’t flow as they did earlier. It came to a grinding halt in the final 7:18 when the Badgers made no field goals, missed free throws, had turnovers, and weren’t aggressive.

After Ohio State cut the lead to four, Wisconsin looked more content to bleed clock than attack, evidenced by a possession that didn’t see the ball get close to the lane until the end of the shot clock and ended with a Hepburn missed jumper.

UW attempted 22 free throws in the night, their third-highest mark of the season and most since going 17-for-27 against Maryland on Dec. 6. But the Badgers made only 13 of them, including going 7-for-14 in the second half to drop their season percentage to 65.8 percent. It’s becoming less a question of will free throws cost UW a crucial win to more so when will it happen.

“We got to convert, especially the last seven minutes,” Gard said. “That’s not textbook in terms of how we executed down the stretch in terms of the shots.”

To be fair, Wisconsin did quiet the crowd early on a couple of occasions in the half. Wahl drove past Justice Sueing and finished between him and Zed Key (two experienced players) to quiet the crowd, and Klesmit’s three-pointer did the same just over a minute later. However, there were 32 other possessions in the half and a lot of them were not winning ones.

Gard seldom challenges his players publicly in front of the media, but his words felt like they had a certain bite to them when he spoke to us Tuesday. While being Captain Obvious in saying they needed to play better when asked what level he wanted to see elevated moving forward, Gard laid out the challenge to get UW’s big three – Crowl, Hepburn, and Wahl – “more and better shots.”

“The other guys need to know that we need to play through these three guys more,” Gard said Tuesday.

Crowl evidently took it to heart because the junior was active in the opening 20 minutes with 11 points and three post buckets in a four-minute stretch, willingly backing down reserve forward Felix Okapara for his first two off a jump hook. On the next possession, Hepburn drove into the lane and Okapara collapsed to double. Hepburn hit Crowl and Okapara was late getting out to defend, leading to Crowl hitting an open three instead of driving to the rim.

“Credit goes to Steve for playing aggressive, commanding the ball, and finishing plays,” Gard said. “I thought about getting him more breaks, but he was playing so well. Why am I going to take him out, knowing we had a lot of game left to play.”

While Crowl figured things out, Tyler Wahl’s offense hasn’t looked right since returning from the ankle injury. The senior was the only starter not in double figures, finishing with five points on 2-for-10 shooting in 34 minutes. Wahl tried posting up late but wound up forcing shots instead of kicking the ball out to the post, as well as missing two free throws with 1:38 remaining and UW clinging to a six-point lead.

In the five games since returning to the starting lineup, Wahl is shooting 36.7 percent from the field (22-for-60) and 41.2 percent from the line (7-for-17).

“I think he’s trying to make up for lost time, trying to get three missed games back in two possessions,” Gard said of Wahl. “He plays with such a high-burning motor that it makes him really good, but it also at times gets him going too fast. It’s something that he has to continue to work on, slow down, and let the game come to him.”

UW didn’t guard the freshman too well on the first couple of possessions, letting Brice Sensabaugh get loose a couple of times to create eight points in 79 seconds. It was hard work for him from that point forward, as UW held him to only five more points on three more shots in just 16 minutes, spending the last 9:20 on the bench after fouling out.

Sensabaugh led Ohio State in scoring 12 consecutive games entering the night and was averaging 17.7 points on 50.8 percent shooting, but the Badgers got him frustrated (he committed a flagrant-1 for pushing Wahl after the two battled for a loose ball) and messed with his rhythm. Three seconds after subbing in with four fouls, he went over the back of Wahl for a rebound and was whistled for his fifth foul.

Compared by Gard to a younger version of Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr., the guard who dropped 22 on Wisconsin last month, the Badgers handled the future NBA player successfully.

“We could defend him better when he was sitting on the bench,” Gard quipped.

In positive to try to cut the deficit down to single digits before halftime, Wahl took one body blow from Sueing in the low post before another one sent him to the court with 27.7 seconds left. Sueing was whistled for an offensive foul and Holtmann blew a gasket.

Believing Wahl flopped, Holtmann drew the first technical foul from Courtney Green, who made the offensive foul call, and then quickly received a second from John Higgins.

He said it was his second career ejection and changed the complexion of the game. Essegian – UW’s only reliable free throw shooter at 89.5 percent – knocked down all four free throws. Hepburn added salt in the wound when he hit a jumper with two seconds left to give Wisconsin a 16-point lead entering the locker room, critical points for the Badgers by the end of the game.

“The first technical was warranted,” Holtmann said. “I deserved the first technical. I don’t believe the second one was, but officials are going to do what they want to do. I’ve got to be more composed in that situation. I wasn’t composed, and that’s on me.”

8-0 – Wisconsin scored on its first three possessions to lead by eight 96 seconds into the game.

51.6 – Wisconsin’s shooting percentage in the first half (16-for-31)

29.2 – Wisconsin’s shooting percentage in the second half (7-for-24)

11 – The Buckeyes average 10.9 turnovers per game but committed 11 in the first half, leading to 13 points.

7 - Wisconsin's 7 Quad 1/2 wins trails only Purdue (11) and Iowa (8) among Big Ten teams.

29 - With the win, Gard equaled former Illinois coach Bruce Weber (89-65 from 2004-12) for 29th place on the all-time Big Ten wins list.

12 – Klesmit’s 12 points were one shy of his career-high scoring mark with Wisconsin and now has back-to-back double-figure scoring games for the first time this season.

3 – Number of reserves who played for Wisconsin: Carter Gilmore (18 minutes), Jordan Davis (6), Kamari McGee (5).

+19 – Ohio State’s edge in rebounds (46-25), including 12-4 on the offensive glass. However, the Buckeyes only managed eight second-chance points.

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