No. 15 OSU seeks first win at No. 10 Wisconsin since 2017

Ohio State men’s basketball has lost seven of its past 10 meetings with Wisconsin, including the past three in a row, and although the Buckeyes enter Saturday’s matchup with a top 15 ranking, they could be facing the best Badger team they’ve seen in a half-decade.

When No. 10 Wisconsin (12-3, 6-2 Big Ten) hosts the No. 15 Buckeyes (11-4, 5-4 Big Ten) this weekend, it will have its highest ranking in a game against Ohio State in six years, and its combination of size and stout defense will make things tough for the Scarlet and Gray to stop its recent skid against the Badgers.

Both programs are coming off of recent losses, with the Buckeyes dropping a more-than-winnable affair against Purdue in their last time out, and the Badgers taking a 23-point drubbing by No. 7 Michigan before regrouping with wins over Rutgers and Northwestern in the past two games.

Wisconsin, the second-place team in the conference behind only the Wolverines, has the best scoring defense in the Big Ten, giving up just 61.4 points per game to opponents this season. The .398 field goal percentage the Badgers allow is second-best in the league.

Those statistics don’t bode particularly well for the Buckeyes, given their penchant for erratic shooting performances this season. Ohio State went three straight games shooting above 50 percent when putting together a win streak that included Rutgers, Northwestern and Illinois through the middle of January, but in two losses to Purdue this year, the Buckeyes have shot .379 and .377, respectively.

Wisconsin actually shoots a worse percentage from the field than the Buckeyes this season, and the Badgers possess just the No. 11 scoring offense in the Big Ten. However, the Badgers make up ground with a potent 3-point attack.

The Badgers shoot .390 from beyond the arc, which is the second-best figure in the conference, and that number is buoyed by an impressive 42.7 percent mark from redshirt senior guard and leading scorer D’Mitrik Trice.

Trice, who hails from Huber Heights, Ohio, is averaging a career-best 14.8 points per game, up five points from a season ago, and he also leads the squad with 3.7 assists per game.

The long-time Badger veteran has upped his game in the past seven contests in particular, a period in which he is putting up 19.8 points per game on 50 percent shooting.

As for who might match up with Trice on defense, the Buckeyes’ two top point guards are both likely to be out once again with injuries. Redshirt senior point guard CJ Walker has missed the past four games with torn ligaments in his non-shooting hand, while Bucknell transfer Jimmy Sotos is still recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in the first game that Walker missed.

Down low, the undersized Buckeyes will have a lot to handle with the Badgers’ pair of seasoned bigs in former Ohio State forward Micah Potter and 6-foot-11 Nate Reuvers.

Potter, a 6-foot-10 Mentor, Ohio, native, is having a career year in Madison, Wisconsin, finishing his collegiate tenure with a scoring average of 12.1 points per game –– second-best on the team –– and a Wisconsin-best 6.7 rebounds as well.

Head coach Greg Gard has opted against starting Reuvers and Potter together against smaller lineups, and that may very well be the recipe he goes to again against an Ohio State team without any player taller than 6-foot-8 in its typical rotation.

That will likely mean the Buckeyes could see less Reuvers on Saturday, as Wisconsin has relegated the 2019-20 All-Big Ten performer to the bench while he’s struggled considerably in the past few games.

It may seem like a tough road matchup for the Buckeyes come Saturday’s 4 p.m. tip-off at the Kohl Center, but Ohio State holds a 3-1 record against ranked opponents this season, and is 3-0 against teams in the top 15.