[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]COLUMBUS, Ohio — The tone was set early in Wisconsin’s 64-56 victory over Ohio State Sunday. Just 18 seconds into the game, Badger forward Mike Wilkinson drained a 3-point field goal to put UW up 3-0. Wisconsin would never trail the rest of the way.

“I think we were flat from the start,” Buckeye forward Matt Sylvester said. “First possession of the game, they hit a 3-pointer. We were flat the entire game.”

Minutes later, Wilkinson connected again from beyond the arc, the second of eight Badger threes.

“Shots just went in,” Wilkinson said. “We had a couple open looks, and we knocked them down. We knocked them down, then came down and got stops.”

In all, UW drilled six of its seven 3-point attempts in the first half, good for a blistering 85.7 percent. Never was the Badgers’ marksmanship more vital than when Wilkinson, who was off to a ferocious start with eight points, picked up his second foul six minutes into the game. With Wilkinson looking on from the bench, Ohio State rallied to tie the game at 19-19. The Badgers quickly responded with three consecutive deep balls from Alando Tucker, Michael Flowers and Clayton Hanson.

“Our hot shooting from the outside kept some distance in the first half,” Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. “If we didn’t have that, with Mike on the bench with two, it could have been a long afternoon.”

In the end, it was a long afternoon for the Buckeyes. The back-to-back-to-back deep balls proved to be the knockout blow Wisconsin was looking for. After Hanson’s trey, the Badgers would never again lead by less than three points.

“They went on their run and closed the gap,” Hanson said. “We needed that surge before the half to get things going.”

UW finished the game sinking 8-of-15 3-point attempts. Wisconsin’s perimeter success was in stark contrast to the struggles Ohio State endured from 3-point land. Despite a plethora of open shots, the Buckeyes hit just 4-of-14 3-point tries.

In the first half, OSU shot just 12.5 percent, as only forward Ivan Harris made a 3-point basket in the game’s first 20 minutes. Though Ohio State would fare better from beyond the arc in the second half, the early Wisconsin 3-point barrage proved too much for the home-standing Buckeyes to overcome.

“I think Wisconsin is a tremendous basketball team,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said. “If they come into the first half and hit 6-of-7 threes, they’re going to be right there with anyone.”

Cleaning the glass: In addition to dominating the Buckeyes from 3-point land, the Badgers also asserted firm control of the action under the basket. Wisconsin out-rebounded Ohio State by a final count of 37 to 24, led by Tucker’s nine rebounds. Wilkinson added eight boards, with Hanson chipping in seven.

“The key was just that we stuck around as guards, because (Ohio State center Terence) Dials occupies the bigs,” Hanson said. “The guards were just sticking around and cleaning up.”

Thanks to nine offensive rebounds, UW outscored OSU 12-3 in second-chance points. Once again, Tucker led the Badger charge on the glass by collecting a game-high four offensive boards.