The third time was not the charm for the Ohio State men’s basketball team last night. The Buckeyes were not able to hold off Wisconsin, who tallied a Kohl Center high 94 points with its 94-92 overtime victory.
Both periods in regulation saw No. 21 OSU (17-4, 8-2 Big Ten) scoring the final points when Ohio State guard Boban Sovovic connected on a wide-open three-pointer with just over two seconds remaining to send the game into extra minutes.
In the first half, the Buckeyes had managed to take a 39-38 lead heading into the locker room after guard Sean Connolly sank both of his free throws with 18 seconds left.
The Badgers (13-11, 6-5 Big Ten) used clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch to seal the upset as they sank 78.3 percent of their 46 attempts from the charity stripe.
Freshman forward Mike Wilkinson finished 13-16, while fellow freshman Devin Harris connected on five free throws in the final 19 seconds to keep the Badgers on top.
Harris, who did not make a single shot attempt in the first half, would finish the game with 10 points — eight coming from free throws.
Harris played it smart in the end as he missed his final free throw with 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock, ending the possibility of a last-second shot by the Buckeyes. Harris’ shot bounced on the rim for a couple seconds before falling in Wisconsin’s favor to end the game.
“I had a little help [knowing not to make the last free throw],” said Harris. “I received a couple of suggestions.”
Badgers’ head coach Bo Ryan elaborated on the freshman’s comments.
“I politely asked [Harris to miss the last free throw],” said Ryan.
UW, which never trailed in overtime, saw OSU tie the game with 1:10 remaining after senior guard Brian Brown made both free throws following a Charlie Wills’ foul. On the ensuing play, Harris missed a three-pointer with 46.7 seconds left that gave Ohio State the chance to take the lead, but OSU knocked the ball out of bounds to give UW the ball back with 20 seconds remaining.
After four Harris free throws put UW up by four, Brown made a three-pointer to pull it within one, until Harris made the final shot.
Before the final buzzer sounded, the lead had flip-flopped all night, resulting in 14 lead changes, 12 of which came in the first half. Wisconsin held the largest lead of the game with 10 when they went up 62-52 with 9:57 remaining in the second half. The most Ohio State ever led by was four, when they held a 47-43 advantage early in the second half.
The score was not the only thing close; statistically, the teams were neck and neck.
Ohio State did manage to outshoot UW 50 to 45.8 percent and out-rebound the Badgers 40-39. Offensively, Buckeye guard Brent Darby led all scorers with 22 points.
Not far behind, though, were Wills and junior guard Kirk Penney, who paced UW with 21 points.
Penney scored 14 of those points in the second half and finished the game with a double-double, thanks to his team-leading 10 rebounds. Wilkinson ended with 19 points, to make four Badgers in double figures.
Senior guard Travon Davis finished the game with nine points, thanks to a 4-8 shooting effort in the first half. He fouled out with 37 seconds remaining in regulation.
“I think that [Wisconsin] is a very good team,” said OSU head coach Jim O’Brien. “They really stretch the defense, and when they have the opportunity to play Wills on the perimeter with their three guards, they all have the ability to go by you off the dribble. If you pack things in, they can shoot the ball. I thought they were very difficult for us to guard tonight.”
Once again, the road played the role of spoiler in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes have lost both of their conference games on the road at Minnesota and again last night. The Wisconsin game was just the start of a four-game road trip by OSU.
“There is a huge difference between home and away,” commented O’Brien. “[Wisconsin] has played well at home and yet struggled on the road, which (is) seemingly what happens to a lot of the teams in the league.”
“These guys are strong, and we came together in that huddle right before overtime,” said Wills. “We said we’re not going to lose this. There is a lot of confidence here.”
