Wisconsin's run to end first half too much for Ohio State to overcome in Madison

COLUMBUS — Ohio State answered the bell in the final four minutes of the first half last weekend, using a 9-0 run to stay in stride with Maryland. That surge allowed the Buckeyes to start the second half with a lead, hang around and, ultimately, take care of business in double overtime.

Tuesday night at Wisconsin, the Buckeyes lost the game in the final four minutes of the first half. The Badgers closed the period on a 14-1 run, taking a 34-21 advantage into the break.

They then grew their lead to 17 points in the final frame before Ohio State woke up offensively to the tune of a 19-7 run and made it a 50-45 game with 9:49 to go. But, just like the end of the first half, the Buckeyes went cold at the end of the second half, and No. 20 Wisconsin (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) snapped its four-game losing streak with a 62-54 win over Ohio State in the Kohl Center.

The Buckeyes knew what they were doing offensively the first 13 or so minutes of play in Madison. Ohio State (14-11, 4-10) repeatedly set pindown screens, which led to good looks at the basket, namely a pair of Evan Mahaffey dunks in the opening minutes.

Mahaffey — who entered the night averaging 8.5 points per game over his last eight outings — scored eight points on his first four shots. Unfortunately for the sophomore, he had to sit out the final nine-plus minutes of the first half with two fouls. Devin Royal continued to struggle with foul trouble, picking up his second personal at the 10:19 mark.

Before that, though, Roddy Gayle Jr. delivered a crafty pass along the baseline to Royal for a dunk, one of five Buckeyes slams in the first half. Gayle had three assists, two 3-pointers and a steal while helping Ohio State keep pace with Wisconsin. He used back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 18-18, first making a triple and then cutting to the cup for a two-handed flush.

Another big reason why Ohio State found itself in that position more than midway through the first period is because of its active defense. Whether it was Gayle stealing the ball away from Wisconsin’s AJ Storr, Felix Okpara rejecting the phenom St. John’s transfer in the lane or Bowen Hardman hustling to disrupt a transition opportunity, the Buckeyes showed high effort on the defensive end of the court at the beginning of the opening frame. That played a role in Wisconsin recording eight first-half giveaways.

Wisconsin built three six-point leads in the first half. Ohio State didn’t have an answer for the third, which soon blossomed into the Badgers’ 13-point halftime cushion.

Max Klesmit — who in the teams’ first meeting scored all 18 of his points in the second half — bookended the aforementioned 14-1 run with a pair of 3-pointers. Chucky Hepburn picked the pocket of Buckeyes point guard Bruce Thornton, leading to a fastbreak dunk for Storr. As part of his 16-and-10 double-double, Wisconsin big man Steven Crowl scored on Ohio State’s Zed Key with a fake to the baseline and a left-handed finish.

The Buckeyes shot 2-of-9 from long range in the opening period, with Gayle missing a 3-pointer before the first-half horn. After starting 8-of-16 from the field, they made just one of their final 10 field goal attempts the rest of the first half.

Thornton had only two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the first half, not to mention his two turnovers. While Gayle went quiet in the second period, Thornton went to work, piling up the Buckeyes’ first seven points in the final frame and rounding out the night with 18 points, five assists, four rebounds and three turnovers.

When Thornton’s teammates got into the mix, and Ohio State’s defense picked back up again, Holtmann’s crew made its move.

Nearly doubling his season high with 21 minutes, Hardman made the extra playing time count with seven points, six of which came off two 3-pointers. The second was made possible by a Royal offensive rebound, and it followed a double-clutch, off-balanced triple from Thornton late in the shot clock.

After Hardman’s second-chance 3-pointer, Royal capitalized on a mismatch with Hepburn and scored down low to bring the Buckeyes within five.

There were 9:49 remaining. From that point forward, only Thornton and Jamison Battle scored. But Battle’s 3-pointer was in garbage time. The fifth-year Minnesota transfer was held scoreless up until that point.

Ohio State, which made seven straight field goal attempts during its comeback earlier in the period, went 3-of-14 from the floor down the stretch, at one point missing nine shots in a row.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, slowly put the game away, in large part thanks to two Hepburn 3-pointers. The first was created by a double team that Tyler Wahl drew. The senior forward made a home for himself in the paint in the second half, pitching in eight points and four rebounds during the period.

Hepburn’s second 3-pointer was the dagger. It came with 51 seconds left, and it came after Ohio State — despite being down eight with the clock winding down — chose not to foul.

Regardless of strategy in that final minute-plus, the Buckeyes needed a lot to go their way. They outscored Wisconsin, 33-28, in the second half, but the way the first half ended simply dug too deep a hole for Ohio State.

It poked its head out of that hole but not enough to escape its suffocating road woes.

The Buckeyes have lost 16 straight “true” road games, a drought that now spans 408 days and counting. Until they perform more consistently at the end of halves, that streak is going to continue.