The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team took a 17-point lead into halftime, but it took all 40 minutes of the game on Jan. 14 to fend off the pesky Ohio State Buckeyes at the Kohl Center 70-68 to win their sixth straight game and improve to 14-3 on the season and 4-2 in the Big Ten Conference.
The victory also marked Greg Gard’s 200th win as Wisconsin head coach, making him the fourth coach in Badgers history to reach that milestone.
Squarely in the midst of their Big Ten season, Wisconsin continues to prove they can win in a multitude of fashions. This time it was emerging victorious in a contest in which they easily could have folded. Outscored by 15 in the second half, the Badgers stayed resilient in the final minutes, using experience to never give up their lead, outwilling the Buckeyes.
“We were able to find a way. I think obviously a tale of two halves specifically on the defensive end, and I didn’t think we were sharp offensively really all night. But the free-throw line, getting there 28 times and racking up some foul trouble on their side was important for us,” Gard said following the game.
The Badgers have found success in getting to the free-throw line for most of the season, and on Tuesday, they relied on that skill. Wisconsin went 25-28 from the line and put Ohio State in foul trouble.
Most instrumental to Wisconsin’s win were the trio of guards John Tonje and John Blackwell and forward Steven Crowl. Tonje scored 17 points, going 10-10 from the free-throw line, corralled four rebounds and led the Badgers in minutes, with 35. Blackwell scored Wisconsin’s first nine points and finished with 15, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out two assists. Meanwhile, Crowl scored 14 points to go along with seven rebounds and an assist.
The Buckeyes were led by guard Bruce Thornton, who led all scorers with 21 points on 7-13 shooting. Forward Devin Royal added 12 points and six rebounds.
In their dominating first half, Wisconsin jumped out to an early 9-2 lead and never looked back. Blackwell scored Wisconsin’s first nine points, connecting on jump shots from three and the paint, and also from the free-throw line. From there, an aggressive Crowl led the Badgers, scoring 10 first-half points.
The Badgers received a big boost in the first half from forward Carter Gilmore, who played 14 minutes and scored five points, earning three rebounds and a block.
Tonje closed out the half with a steal and break-away dunk, pushing Wisconsin’s lead to 17, which ignited the Kohl Center.
But within the first five minutes of the second half, Ohio State quickly made sure Wisconsin knew that a cruise to victory was not in the cards. Thornton connected on a pair of mid-range jump shots and a three, and a John Mobley Jr. transition three-pointer with 15:46 remaining brought the game back to single digits.
Wisconsin built their lead back to 13 after a Kamari McGee three and a vicious dunk from Tonje, but Ohio State swiftly answered with a 9-0 run, making it a four-point game, 48-44.
The Badgers and the Buckeyes continued to trade baskets, with Ohio State seemingly responding to every Wisconsin bucket. Blackwell’s and-one conversion and Klesmit’s late shot-clock three was promptly answered with a lay-up from Stewart and a three from Parrish, which made the score 56-51 in favor of Wisconsin with 7:02 remaining.
Two-and-a-half minutes later, the game remained at five points, until a Tonje three gave Wisconsin a 65-57 lead with 4:17 left. But the Buckeyes kept fighting. They went on a 7-0 run to bring the game within one point with 16 seconds remaining. From there, the game came down to strategic fouling and free throws, where the Badgers escaped narrowly with a win.
