Ohio State makes second-half run but falls short to No. 15 Wisconsin

COLUMBUS — It was the exclamation point on another troubling night from Ohio State sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. Wisconsin standout, and St. John’s transfer, AJ Storr stole the ball from Gayle in the final seconds of Wednesday’s night game and, to the chagrin of the departing Schottenstein Center crowd, slammed home a breakaway dunk.

That sequence secured the Badgers’ third straight, double-digit Big Ten victory.

It also was the cherry on top of Gayle’s seventh consecutive game with three or more turnovers. Ohio State got only nine points from Gayle, who is one prong of the Buckeyes’ three-headed scoring attack.

Jamison Battle poured in 18 points, and Bruce Thornton piled up 13 more, not to mention six assists, but it wasn’t enough in a 71-60 loss to the No. 15 Badgers.

“We didn’t make shots, for one, missed a couple free throws. I think those were critical,” Holtmann said of the Buckeyes — who were 2-of-7 from the free throw line in the second half — and how they fared in the final moments.

“I thought some of our looks were really good, to be honest with you. And then we had probably two breakdowns defensively [late]. But I just think we got to be able to make some of those clean, easy looks.”

Thornton and Battle combined for Ohio State’s first 11 points. That trend continued throughout the opening frame, as Thornton and Battle did the heavy lifting on offense. They shot 10-of-16 and finished with a total of 25 points in the first period.

Everyone else for the Buckeyes (12-4, 2-3 Big Ten)? Eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Similarly, the scoring was top heavy for Wisconsin (12-3, 4-0), too. Ohio State tried putting different bodies on Storr, but that didn’t stop the 6-foot-7 standout from piling up 15 points.

Ohio State led for close to 17 minutes in the first half. Although Thornton was back on track, his partner-in-crime, Gayle, wasn’t. By the first media timeout, Gayle already had a turnover and a near turnover. He rounded out the opening frame with as many giveaways as points: two.

Gayle’s best stretch in the first half took place when he teed up an alley-oop for center Zed Key, who finished the touch pass with a layup. Soon after, Gayle blew by Wisconsin freshman guard John Blackwell and got to the cup for his lone make in the first 20 minutes.

That bucket put the Buckeyes up, 17-13. A mid-range conversion from Thornton extended the Buckeyes’ early lead to six points.

That’s when Storr got going for the Badgers. He made their next four field goals, including a jumper off a screen and a score off an inbound pass to the paint over Gayle, who was trying to avoid picking up his second foul of the night.

During that Storr surge, Battle stole the spotlight. He knocked down a pair of late shot clock, step-back 3-pointers. Wisconsin’s Max Klesmit had a hand in his face on the first one. Then Tyler Wahl contested the Minnesota transfer.

It didn’t matter. Battle, who came into the game having made five-plus triples in four straight games, was on fire once more.

The second of those highlight-reel 3-pointers thrust the Buckeyes ahead, 25-17. Thornton answered the final two Storr baskets with a long-range field goal of his own.

But Wisconsin closed the half on a 14-5 run, transforming a 28-21 deficit into a 35-33 halftime lead. It was the Badgers’ turn from beyond the arc: Nolan Winter, Storr, Blackwell and Connor Essegian all cashed in from outside. Wahl — who chipped in six first-half points — also contributed with a spin move and score in the post past Battle.

Ohio State starting center Felix Okpara kicked things off for the Buckeyes in the second half with an alley-oop dunk, courtesy of a nice pass from Thornton.

Wisconsin appeared to be pulling away when Klesmit and point guard Chucky Hepburn hit back-to-back jumpers, the second of which was a turnaround shot that staked the Badgers to a 43-38 advantage.

But Evan Mahaffey delivered a much-needed layup. And so did Battle, thanks to a great bounce pass from Gayle, after the period’s first media timeout.

Battle once again kept Ohio State within reach with a soft baseline finish. That came after Wisconsin big men Winter and Steven Crowl got the best of Key down low. Battle’s inside score was the start of an 8-0 Buckeyes run that gave them the lead back, 50-48.

Okpara swung the game with an offense-defense sequence at the midway point of the period. First Okpara cleaned up a Thornton missed 3-pointer with an and-one putback. Okpara got the free throw and then, on the other end, swatted a shot from Crowl in the paint.

“I did not think his effort was where it needed to be in the first half. But I thought in the second half, he was really good for us,” Holtmann said of Okpara, who notched all seven of his points and six of his seven rebounds in the final period.

That block kept the momentum going for Ohio State. So did a 3-pointer from freshman forward Scotty Middleton moments later — so much so that the Buckeyes faithful in attendance erupted with cheers, fueled by a frenzy of students back from winter break.

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard called a timeout.

A layup from Gayle split two trips to the free throw line for Klesmit. A mid-range jumper from Middleton and a turnaround hook from Okpara restored the Buckeyes’ multi-possession lead.

Wisconsin answered with a 10-0 run that pulled Gard’s squad ahead, 62-56. Klesmit, who recorded all 18 of his points in the second half, scored eight points in that spurt. Ohio State’s defensive rotations were out of sorts, and Klesmit capitalized with two 3-pointers and a drive inside.

“Really the last four or five minutes,” Holtmann said when diagnosing the Buckeyes’ defensive miscues. “I thought they straight line drove us a few times. We didn’t plug a gap one time that we certainly should have. And our ball screen coverage, that was another one.”

Klesmit’s heater continued with a contested jumper after Gayle stopped the bleeding with a layup.

“I think he just started to get going,” Battle said before referencing that Klesmit make. “I felt like I remember when he hit a pull-up mid range right at the free throw line, and I was right there. He just made it. I think that’s where people get in the zone.

“And he was obviously in the zone.”

Gayle got to the cup once more, however, Hepburn matched that effort, maintaining the Badgers’ six-point lead. Thornton missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for the second time late in the final frame, and that was the nail in the Buckeyes’ coffin.

Klesmit and Wahl combined for three more points at the charity stripe, and Storr tied the bow on Wisconsin’s road win with his last-second dunk.

“That’s where we have to get better — finishing games,” Battle said. “And when things are getting tough, and when things are getting rough, we have to come together and want it more.

“I think that’s what the challenge is, for us to step up for this next game. I think we’re all gonna be ready, and we’re all gonna be hungry for that challenge.”

That challenge comes at Michigan, where a rivalry matchup up north — perhaps fittingly — feels like a must-win.