The Badgers had a nail biter that went down to the wire at the Kohl Center on Tuesday.
The Wisconsin Badgers pulled off their sixth straight victory on Tuesday, beating the Ohio State Buckeyes 70-68 to improve to 14-3 on the year and 4-2 in conference play.
Offensively, the Badgers started strong, but struggled from three-point range, prompting them to rely more on the paint for scoring.
Defensively, Wisconsin continued its recent success with a strong first half, but nearly had a major collapse as they struggled to get consecutive stops over the final 20 minutes, allowing Ohio State to score 48 points in the final period.
Here are three quick takeaways from the Badgers 70-68 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Tuesday.
Tale of two halves
Unlike in their blowout win over Minnesota, the Badgers started off fast against Ohio State, thanks to nine straight points from John Blackwell to begin the game.
Wisconsin never trailed after going down 2-0, ultimately finishing the half with a 37-20 lead, despite shooting only 2/11 from three-point range.
It was another game where the Badgers looked inside to Steven Crowl early and often, as the center had 10 first-half points to pair with Blackwell’s nine. As a team, Wisconsin shot 9/14 from inside the arc in the period, while going 13/14 from the free-throw line and taking advantage of the Buckeyes’ fouling issues.
They were stellar defensively as well, holding Ohio State to just 32.1 percent from the field and one three-pointer, while not allowing free throws at all in the process. The Buckeyes starting lineup shot just 6/23 from the field in the period, which seemingly felt like a tone-setter for the game.
Well, the tides completely shifted in the second half, as Ohio State cut the lead to four with a 24-11 run over the first ten minutes of the period before things went back and forth from there.
While the Buckeyes never led, they were within a possession until the final bell, ultimately losing by two. But, that came after a second half where they scored 48 points on 51.6 percent from the field and 40 percent from three, while hitting 12/14 of their free throws.
It was a Bruce Thornton clinic, as the star guard had 19 points in the half alone, while the Buckeyes turned the ball over just twice over the final 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin struggled from the field, shooting under 40 percent, while hitting less than 30 percent of their threes in an inconsistent showing, allowing Ohio State to creep back in the final minutes.
Nonetheless, Wisconsin escaped with a two-point victory, keeping their win streak alive.
Free Throws
The Badgers don’t win this game without their stellar free throw shooting.
Coming in as one of the best free throw shooting teams in the entire country, Wisconsin was an astounding 25/28 from the line on Tuesday, and every single point counted.
John Tonje was the usual suspect, hitting all 10 of his free throws en route to 15 points. But, Steven Crowl, Nolan Winter, and Kamari McGee were a perfect 10/10 from the line combined, with some of those free throws coming in the clutch.
The Badgers had to play the free throw game at the end to fend off a hot Ohio State team. Most college teams have struggled in these environments, but Wisconsin hit some crucial free throws to seal the deal.
After a Micah Parrish layup made it 65-64 with 16 seconds left, John Blackwell was fouled and missed a 1-on-1. But, Kamari McGee got the rebounds and sank in both free throws to extend the lead back again to three.
Up three, the Badgers fouled, but Bruce Thornton hit both free throws to keep it at a one-point game with seven seconds left. After a timeout, John Tonje was immediately fouled and he sank in both free throws to re-extend the lead by three.
Wisconsin played the same game with three seconds left, fouling up three to keep Ohio State without a chance to tie it. While the Buckeyes sank both free throws, the Badgers were still up one and got into the double bonus on the next foul, giving John Blackwell two free throws to end the game.
While Blackwell missed the first, he sunk the second, extending the lead to two, and the Buckeyes couldn’t do anything with the one second left, leading to the 70-68 victory.
Fouling up three is the logical choice in situations like Tuesday’s. But, Wisconsin needed to hit free throws at a high rate to execute the plan and that’s what they did in the win.
More touches for Steven Crowl
A month ago, many were clamoring for a change with center Steven Crowl after the senior had a slow start to the year, reaching double figures just once over the first 11 games.
Well, Crowl has really come alive as of late and made it six straight games with at least 14 points on Tuesday, with a majority of his production coming in the first half.
Crowl was 3/5 inside the arc over the first 20 minutes, while hitting all four of his free throws en route to 10 points in the half. But, in the second half, Crowl had just three shot attempts, scoring only four points as the Badgers struggled to put the ball in the hoop overall.
When it comes down to it, given his success in comparison to the team’s offensively, it felt like Crowl needed to get more touches with the game on the line to seal the deal for Wisconsin.
The center had another game without a single turnover and is capable of making good decisions with the ball when being used as a facilitator. But, Wisconsin can’t allow its offense to stagnate down the stretch with Crowl not getting the requisite touches to make a play.