The No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team’s lack of bench depth proved no problem as they came up big in their 62-54 victory against the Ohio State Buckeyes Tuesday at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin’s last four games before this matchup were nothing short of their worst stretch of basketball so far this season. The Badgers lost all four games, their longest losing streak of the season. Their most recent loss came against Rutgers, where they lost by a season-high 22 points.
Wisconsin was without two of their key bench players in Wednesday’s matchup, guards John Blackwell and Kamari McGee. Blackwell suffered a hip injury in the Badgers’ loss against Purdue on Feb. 4 but played the next game against Michigan before sitting out against Rutgers. McGee suffered a foot injury last month against Indiana and is expected to return on Feb. 27, coincidentally against Indiana.
Wisconsin started off aggressive against the Buckeyes, with Steven Crowl making his presence known early in the first half by going after Buckeyes forwards in the paint.
He also didn’t shy away from attempting shots outside the 3-point arc. Crowl made two 3-point shots in the first half and took a total of six 3-point attempts throughout the game — a season high in 3-point attempts for Crowl. He finished the game with a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Storr also came up huge for the Badgers in the first half. He scored 10 points in the first half, thanks in part to tenacious layup attempts that earned him six free-throw attempts. Storr finished the game with 14 points.
Storr’s grit also showed on the boards, where he grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, six of which were offensive. At one point in the first half, Storr secured two back-to-back offensive rebounds off his own missed shots and scored over an Ohio State defender thanks to his hustle.
Meanwhile, Badgers guard Chucky Hepburn showed why he’s one of the best defensive guards in the Big Ten. Hepburn finished the game with a team-high two steals and was a nuisance for the Buckeyes as he kept tipping the ball out of Ohio State guards’ hands.
Hepburn’s defensive pressure on the Buckeyes guards got him into foul trouble in the second half. Referees deemed two of his steals reach-in fouls despite Hepburn only making contact with the ball.
“I thought we were much more aggressive, specifically defensively,” said Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard. “I thought we were really good defensively in the first half. And then we were back to an old school Big Ten [game] there, first one to 60.”
With their four-game losing streak snapped, the Badgers move to 17-8 overall on the season and 9-5 in Big Ten play. They face the Iowa Hawkeyes next on Saturday in Iowa City.
