Watching Ohio State beat down Wisconsin on Senior Night in Columbus was like watching two kids play an outdated hoops video game. It seemed like only a matter of time before there was a tail of flames coming off the ball as it left the Buckeyes’ hands.
And in this game, the kid playing with the No. 1 ranked Buckeyes had clearly mastered the timing, making almost every three-pointer he took – 14 out of 15, to be exact. (Cue the generic voice screaming ‘on fire!’ with every shot). The kid controlling Wisconsin, on the other hand, looked like he had only played a few times before and tried to answer back with threes of his own… to no avail – 9 out of 24 to be exact.
When one team shoots that well, the game just seems unfair.
That’s what Sunday afternoon’s game felt like for the Badgers and their fans. And unfortunately for UW, that was no video game. That 93-65 loss was very real.
But what can you do when Jon Diebler hits 7-of-8 three-pointers?
What can you do when David Lighty and William Bufford are a perfect 5-for-5 combined from long range?
What can you do when you have to respect those perimeter threats who’ve found their rhythm when you still have to worry about Player of the Year candidate Jared Sullinger dominating in the paint?
There is just not much you can do.
“What [Ohio State] did today is just unheard of,” UW head coach Bo Ryan told reporters after the game.
In a setting like that – when the No. 1 Buckeyes are out for revenge on Senior Night and when they simply won’t miss – each and every team in the country would have trouble keeping pace.
And let’s face it; few really expected the Badgers to pull out a win in Columbus – even if the Buckeyes shot like humans.
Ryan and the Badgers will move on from this loss and try to forget it as quickly as possible. When a team shoots that well, you have to give credit where credit is due.
Problem is, the Badgers have been doing that a lot lately.
In its last five games, Wisconsin has allowed opponents to shoot extremely well – particularly from three-point range.
Aside from Indiana, which shot an abysmal 18.2 percent from beyond the arc against UW, each of the other four opponents (OSU, NW, Mich., PSU) shot at or above 50 percent.
You can throw the Buckeyes’ ungodly 93 percent from three out the window if you’d like, but even without that performance factored in, we are witnessing a troubling trend develop for UW.
Now the Badgers are 4-1 in those five games mentioned, but the Buckeyes were the only team expected to pose a threat. Led by point guard Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin (for the most part) has shot pretty darn well in its own right, paving the way for narrow victories despite deficiencies on the defensive end.
Ryan acknowledged these defensive lapses after Wisconsin’s victory over Northwestern last week.
“When I broke down the film on our (Northwestern) game, there’s still a lot of areas where we need work,” Ryan said to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Traditionally, Wisconsin is known for its defensive prowess, but it has turned into an area of concern this season.
Even before the Badgers took the floor against Ohio State yesterday, their defensive efficiency ranking (aka points per possession) was 58th in country, according to Ken Pomeroy’s tempo-adjusted ranking system.
In comparison, the Badgers were 19th nationally last season, 49th in 2009, 2nd in 2008 and 6th in 2007. (Side note: no team with a KenPom defensive efficiency ranking worse than 15 has won a national championship since 2004).
For more comparison, Big Ten bubble teams Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois all currently have a better defensive ranking than UW this season.
This isn’t earth-shattering news, as the 2011 Badgers have proven they are a team that plays off the strength of their offense. In fact, UW held the No. 1 overall offensive efficiency ranking before the loss at OSU.
But the Badgers’ defensive struggles have been highlighted late in the season.
When Talor Battle and Penn State poured in three after three in a come-from-behind effort, it was considered good offense.
When Michael Thompson and John Shurna caught fire for Northwestern, it was considered good offense.
Eventually, we need to start considering the possibility of bad defense. If a guy hits a three with a hand right in his face? Fine. That’s all you can do.
But when the Badgers struggle communicating on rotations, when they are manipulated by ball screens and allow open threes, they have a problem.
This blowout loss to OSU didn’t bring these issues to light. It’s been a rough stretch of games that culminated with that disaster at Value City Arena.
Far too often, UW opponents seem to be far too hot from distance.
Ryan knows his perimeter defense needs to be better and produce some improvement.
Otherwise, the Badgers better hope the teams they face happen to have an off night.
Max is a senior majoring in journalism. Concerned with the Badgers’ defense as of late? Hate John Diebler and his ridiculous three-point shooting? E-mail him at [email protected] or tweet @maxhenson.
