No one is shocked to see Thad Matta's No. 12 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-3 Big Ten, 18-3 overall) near the top of the Big Ten standings. The surprise is that Matta has his team just a half game out of the conference lead this season.
The Buckeyes are a veteran team that starts four seniors. Terrence Dials has been a thorn in Wisconsin's side for years. He averages 14.1 points per game, while pulling down 7.5 rebounds per game (fifth best in the conference) on 55 percent shooting. Dials weighs in at 260 lbs. and the Buckeyes pound the ball into him in the post.
Opposing teams must then pick their poison. They can send extra defenders to help out on Dials, but they have to then leave people open on the perimeter, which is a risky endeavor against a good shooting team. The Buckeyes are the best shooting team in the conference. They shoot 49 percent from the field and 43 percent from behind the 3-point line. Three Buckeyes rank in the top five in the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage.
'By being able to hit the three and you have Dials inside, that's that inside/outside attack that grade schools, CYOs, high schools, college, pros, they're all looking for it. We're all searching for that, and Ohio State has it going now,' head coach Bo Ryan said.
Je'Kel Foster has been one of the recipients of defenses doubling down on Dials. The senior leads the conference in 3 point shooting percentage (53 percent) and three pointers made (64). Foster leads the team in points, scoring 14.9 points per game and he is one of the conference leaders in field goal percentage, assists, assists-to-turnover ratio and steals. Ohio State also is the top scoring team in the conference (78.9 points per game) and a lot of that is because it is so difficult to stop them on both the interior and perimeter.
The lone underclassmen in the starting lineup for the Buckeyes is Jamar Butler. Last week, Ohio State had one of its best in years. It defeated two ranked opponents (Michigan and Illinois) in the same week for the first time since 2001. Butler played no small part. He averaged 21 points and 4.5 assists on 71 percent shooting and an unreal 88 percent from downtown. The sophomore was named Big Ten Player of the Week for his efforts.
After a promising start, Wisconsin's top sophomore, Brian Butch, seemed to struggle with the extra pressure. He hurt his ankle in the first game against Ohio State, which only added to his problems. With the game in hand, Butch sat out much of Wednesday against Indiana. The rest seemed to help.
'Not playing that many minutes against Indiana I think helped him,' Ryan said. 'At practice he was a little better on Thursday than he is after some other Wednesday games because he didn't have the pounding.'
On Saturday, with the Badgers in need of a road victory, Butch stepped up and had one of the strongest games of his young career. He scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. For much of this season, Wisconsin has struggled to find a third scorer to compliment junior forward Alando Tucker and junior guard Kammron Taylor. Butch's points were huge.
Maybe the happiest to see Butch's breakout game was Tucker, who had a huge load taken off his back.
'It felt great. I was frustrated with the fouls, but after the game I was really happy,' Tucker said at Monday's practice. 'I was almost as happy as when I have a great game.'
Since the loss of sophomore center Greg Steimsma and freshman forward Marcus Landry, the Badgers have lacked rebounding. Against Penn State the Badgers hit the glass hard, outrebounding the Lions 44-21. When their shots weren't falling in the first half, Wisconsin was able to stay in the game due to their rebounding. Butch must keep it up if the Badgers are to have a chance to win the league.
The players know the significance of this game. A loss would leave UW virtually out of the Big Ten race.
'We only have five games left and with a team like Ohio State coming in, it's a big game for us,' Taylor said. 'After [Wednesday's] game, we have eight days off, and you don't want to go into that break thinking about that loss.'
Ohio State has won their last four games and they beat Wisconsin just a few weeks ago, but the Badgers are always much tougher at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin will have to win its final two home games if they are going to have a shot at winning the conference title. With tough games ahead, a victory is vital to each of their chances of making this season a year to remember.
