Ohio State goes ice cold in second half in another road loss, this time at Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. – The play out of the timeout went to Bowen Hardman. Ohio State's most dangerous 3-point threat on Tuesday night, the Buckeyes got the ball to the sophomore guard on the right wing.
His shot was a little contested, and by the time the ball banged off the rim Hardman was on the floor after a close, physical and legal closeout. It could've cut Wisconsin's deficit in half and furthered a frenetic second-half comeback by the Buckeyes.
Instead, it was the high-water mark. After scoring on 10 straight possessions to pull within 53-47 with 8:34 to play, Ohio State (14-11, 4-10 Big Ten) went ice cold the rest of the way and was "mooed" throughout the remainder of a 62-54 loss at No. 20 Wisconsin (17-8, 9-5) on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
That's right: the Wisconsin fans were instructed to moo at the Buckeyes during the game in recognition of National Wisconsin Day, which will be celebrated Thursday. On this night, the Badgers celebrated the end of a four-game losing streak while adding to Ohio State's misery.
Ohio State has now lost 16 straight road games, tied for its longest streak since it dropped 16 straight in a run that started on Jan. 11, 1997. After winning at Northwestern on New Year’s Day last season, the Buckeyes lost nine straight to close the year and are now 0-7 this season.
Their next road game is Feb. 22 at Minnesota. First comes a home date with No. 2 Purdue.
Seemingly dead in the water, Ohio State never led and looked up at a 40-24 deficit four minutes into the second half of a game that was quickly sliding out of reach. When Bruce Thornton scored in the paint to cut it to a 14-point Wisconsin lead, the field goal hardly registered inside the Kohl Center, especially when Nolan Winter hit a 3-pointer to build a game-high lead of 17 points.
Thornton's shot was just the start of what gradually morphed into an offensive juggernaut. For 10 straight possessions, the Buckeyes came away with points. Some came from Bowen Hardman, who hit two 3-pointers. A Devin Royal dunk got Ohio State within five points at 50-45, and Thornton ended the streak with a field goal to make it 53-47.
The run created intrigue, but it was too big of a deficit to overcome as Ohio State missed its next nine shots. Thornton finally broke the run with 1:36 left, but that only cut it to 57-49.
The final score is Ohio State's lowest-scoring game of the season.
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Playing in front of a home crowd that felt more nervous than enthusiastic early, Ohio State fought back from a 10-4 deficit to tie it at 11 and an 18-13 deficit to tie it at 18. But when Bowen Hardman went to the free-throw line for the first time in his career and hit the first but missed the second with 5:16 left in the half, it cut Wisconsin’s lead to 20-19.
Then the Badgers hit another gear, and it started thanks to the offensive glass. A possession extended when Carter Gilmore grabbed a long rebound off a Chucky Hepburn 3-point miss and a Felix Okpara swat of Steven Crowl still led to a 3-pointer from Max Klesmit. To that point, the Badgers had turned six offensive rebounds into nine second-chance points, and when Hepburn stole the ball from Bruce Thornton it fed a fast-break dunk from AJ Storr for a quick, five-point burst.
Thornton would briefly blunt it with a jumper from the left elbow, but Ohio State wouldn’t score again the rest of the half. The first four Buckeyes shots were 3-pointers, two from Thornton and one each from Gayle and Devin Royal. A Klesmit 3-pointer with 1:11 set the halftime score at 34-21, and the Badgers did it largely thanks to the glass and the free-throw line.
Wisconsin outrebounded Ohio State 22-9 at the half and was 8 for 10 from the line while the Buckeyes were just 1 for 2. Gayle and Evan Mahaffey each had 8 first-half points, even as Mahaffey was limited to 7:07 with early foul trouble. Gayle hit two 3-pointers for the first time since the overtime win against West Virginia on Dec. 30 in Cleveland.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Unsweet 16: Wisconsin hands Ohio State yet another road loss
