Following Tuesday's 67-65 loss against Purdue, the Buckeyes took Wednesday off.

A 10-day stretch that included four games without their starting point guard in redshirt-senior C.J. Walker had tested them despite winning three of those contests. The loss, however, opened their eyes.

They needed to regroup, and did so in an off day.

"That was the best day of my life, and I feel like everybody else felt that," said sophomore forward E.J. Liddell. "I felt like everybody got their body back right, did some rehab, felt like that reset a lot of people.”

No. 15 Ohio State entered Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday with a game against the 10th-ranked Badgers. The Buckeyes had never defeated three-consecutive road teams ranked in the Top 15, but they emerged following a gutsy 74-62 victory by shooting 50.9%.

For as hard as the Buckeyes have fallen in their four losses so far this season, they've gotten up and swung harder next time out.

“I thought our players, from the jump, really grabbed ahold of this thing," said fourth-year head coach Chris Holtmann. "Couldn’t be more proud of our group. It was a tremendous character-win for our group after a tough one the other night."

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Against the Boilermakers, Ohio State had led for 35:01 and were up by three with 1:48 to go before back-to-back 3-pointers broke a win from its grip.

While the Buckeyes never trailed against Wisconsin, Holtmann said Saturday's bout felt like a one-possession game from start to finish.

"They're competitive, they feel losses," Holtmann said. "I told them I didn’t sleep for three days just because you feel that as a coach. You got to trust your guys, you got to trust your team. I thought they answered the bell every time."

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The Buckeyes saw their 13-point lead over the Badgers with 13:08 remaining dwindle down to four with just over five minutes left. Unlike on Tuesday when Ohio State was outscored 13-10 in the final five minutes, the Buckeyes kept their foot down and outscored the Badgers 14-7 to hold onto their win.

Holtmann said the team learned it needed to improve its efficiency on both ends of the court, and Ohio State muzzled Wisconsin to 33.3% from the field in the first half.

“That Purdue game taught us a ton," said graduate forward Seth Towns. "We went back to the drawing board and brought our new knowledge out to this game. That’s a testament to the guys we have on the team. No moment or opportunity or team is too big for anyone.”

Holtmann credited assistant coaches Ryan Pedon with the offensive game plan and Jake Diebler and Terry Johnson with defensive schemes. Ultimately, the head coach said his players executed when it mattered most.

"This team has been extremely engaged, they’ve bounced back from tough losses very well," Holtmann said. "That was probably as good as we’ve played offensively in our three-plus years against an elite defense. It was really efficient, really smart."

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With the victory, Ohio State moved its record to 12-4 and 6-4 in Big Ten play. More noteworthy, the Buckeyes have avenged each of its four losses with a win by shooting at least 49.2% in their next game and having an average margin of victory of seven.

Ohio State isn't scheduled to play its next game for seven days, and Holtmann said the Buckeyes have "a gauntlet” coming up with Michigan State coming in Jan. 31 and a road contest at No. 4 Iowa on Feb. 4.

With the extra time, Holtmann and Ohio State can continue to rest and prepare for its coming slate of games. If Saturday's win at Wisconsin showed anything, it's that this team of Buckeyes knows how to engage their resiliency.

"I think there’s an awareness from our guys that you’re playing in the caliber of league we’re playing in, and at the same time, it’s a competitive group that is hungry to play well and beat the caliber of teams we’re going to play," Holtmann said. "We have a group that feels it, that collectively feels it, and you observe that as a coach.

"This group feels it, and I think their response was as good of a response as I’ve seen in terms of coming back the next day ready to work.”