CHICAGO, Ill. — The Wisconsin men’s basketball
team lost to Ohio State, 58-50, Friday in the quarterfinals of the
Big Ten tournament in Chicago, Ill. The Badgers are now 22-7 and
will await an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. The NCAA
tournament selection show is Sunday at 5 p.m. CST.
UW was plagued by poor shooting throughout the game. For the
game, Wisconsin shot just 34.0 percent (18-53) from the field,
including .286 (8-28) from three-point range. Wisconsin starters
Mike Wilkinson and Devin Harris went a combined 4-23 from the
field.
Ohio State led for most of the second half. Wisconsin opened
with an 11-1 run after halftime to take a 36-31 lead with 17:16
left. The Buckeyes scored the next nine points however and would
never relinquish the lead. The closest Wisconsin came was one
point, 42-41, after a Kirk Penney three-pointer with 8:16 left.
OSU’s Brent Darby scored the next four points and UW never got
closer than three points the rest of the way.
Penney led Wisconsin with 14 points while Alando Tucker had 13
and Freddie Owens added 10. OhioState’s Sean Connolly led all
scores with 21 points while Darby added 16.
Midway through the first half, Wisconsin held a 17-10 lead
following a Penney three-pointer. OhioState scored the next 14
points as the Badgers went without a field goal for 6:48. The
Buckeyes went into halftime with a 30-25 after Zach Williams scored
off an offensive rebound as time expired.
This is the third straight year Wisconsin has lost its first
game in the Big Ten tournament.
— compiled from staff reports
