Ohio State couldn’t seem to find its stroke Thursday night.
Was it the absence of Meechie Johnson Jr., missing the team’s rematch against Wisconsin after a facial injury suffered in practice? Was it Wisconsin’s 3-point defense, coming in with the 10th best opponent 3-point percentage in the Big Ten, but showing a level of aggression up top it didn’t show against the Buckeyes a month ago?
Maybe, but the Buckeyes were just cold. And Wisconsin took advantage, at least at first.
Ohio State went to the locker room at halftime without a 3-point make on eight tries, while Wisconsin, which has shot an abysmal 24.5% from 3-point range against conference opponents, could not miss, bringing in five of its eight tries from deep.
While Ohio State ended up coming to within striking distance, cutting Wisconsin's lead down to six with less than a minute to go in the game after an 11-0 run.
But the Badgers (14-2) kept the advantage all throughout Thursday night, handing Ohio State (10-4) its second Big Ten road loss of the season, 78-68.
The Buckeyes finished with three 3-point makes on 19 attempts.
"We're such a good shooting team," Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said. "We had some good looks that we missed, but I thought they also hugged the shooters. They are not going to give your best shooters clean looks. We just couldn't take advantage of that enough."
Ohio State did find its offense early in the second half, and from a familiar source: E.J. Liddell.
After hitting one of five shot attempts in the first half, the junior forward hit two layups on back-to-back possessions to begin the second half, with redshirt senior guard Jamari Wheeler and redshirt senior guard Kyle Young each following up with layups of their own, recording an 8-0 run.
It was a run Wisconsin was able to respond to, recording a nine-point run, including a jumper and a layup by sophomore guard Johnny Davis, who was heating up after making one 3 on his first seven shot attempts in the first half, keeping its 17-point lead.
But as soon as Liddell hit Ohio State’s first 3 of the day on its 12th try, the Buckeyes began to chip away.
Over the course of the next four minutes, Ohio State used a 14-4 run, trimming its deficit to seven with less than nine minutes left in the game, with the help of eight points by Liddell.
Despite a 3 by Wisconsin senior guard Brad Davison and a jumper by ,junior forward Tyler Wahl, Ohio State continued to chip away, using two free throws by Liddell, a layup by Wheeler and a dunk by sophomore Zed Key to cut the Badgers' lead to two possessions.
However, Wisconsin, again, without Davis, was able to respond in a big way.
The Badgers exploded on a 13-2 run, with eight points by Davison, who finished with team-leading 26 points, along with Wahl's 20 points.
Davis, on the other hand, scored 12 points, on three-of-17 shooting, adding eight rebounds and four turnovers.
Holtmann said Ohio State didn't have enough life defensively to win on the road against Wisconsin, even when the Buckeyes found the burst of energy offensively in the second half to cut the deficit down to six.
The head coach said that, along with the turnovers in the first half, gave Ohio State the loss Thursday night.
Other than Davis’ cold start, the Badgers actually found some life offensively in the first half.
Wisconsin got hot from 3 in the first half, led by senior guard Brad Davison, a player Ohio State redshirt senior forward Kyle Young said would be a main focus for the defense. He led the Badgers with two makes from 3, a team that only missed three of eight tries from behind the line in the first 20 minutes.
And when the Badgers got going, using two 3-pointers on a 10-2 run to take a double-digit lead in the first nine minutes, the defense heated up too.
Wisconsin took advantage of what has plagued the Buckeyes all season: turnovers, forcing for in a three-minute span during its 10-2 scoring run, while Ohio State finished the first half with seven, including three by Liddell.
Liddell failed to record a turnover in the second half, but fouled out with 3:18 to go in the game, leading the Buckeyes with 18 points on 50% shooting, adding six rebounds and four blocks.
Ohio State finished the game with 11 turnovers, which Wisconsin responded to with 16 points.
Ohio State forced its share of Wisconsin turnovers too, a team that had averaged only 8.1 per game coming in.
The Badgers recorded three turnovers in the first 20 minutes, including three by Davis, who had an incredibly slow start from the floor. However, Ohio State was unable to convert on those possessions, recording only four points off turnovers compared to Wisconsin’s 10.
Wisconsin finished with nine turnovers, which Ohio State responded to with eight points.
Ohio State made only five of its 10 attempts from the free-throw line.
The Buckeyes return home Sunday at noon against Penn State.
