For the second straight game, an opposing defense shut down the Ohio State men’s basketball team in the second half. And for the second straight time, the Buckeyes came away from the Schottenstein Center with a Big Ten Conference loss, this time a 53-52 defeat by Wisconsin on Saturday.
“We had the lead at the half, and we came out sluggish in the second half,” said OSU coach Jim O’Brien. “We can’t do that. We continue to struggle with our offense.”
With two straight losses at home, the Buckeyes have to turn their focus to an upcoming three-game road trip, which will take them to Iowa, Indiana and Purdue. Both the Hawkeyes and Boilermakers are undefeated in Big Ten Conference play this season.
“We pride ourselves in winning at home, so hopefully this will be the last time,” said senior guard Sean Connolly. “We have to prepare for the next three road games as if we are going to win.”
Despite a futile second half in which the Buckeyes trailed by as many as 11 points with more than five minutes left, OSU had a shot to win the game late.
With just more than 37 seconds left in the game, the Buckeyes took a 52-51 lead when forward Velimir Radinovic hit a short jumper.
The Badgers, who were one of the four teams tied with the Buckeyes for last year’s conference championship, took their time bringing the ball down the court. With the ball in senior guard Kirk Penney’s hands, the rest of the Wisconsin team cleared the lane. Penny took off from the left wing, cut through the heart of the lane and muscled up a shot with 7.4 seconds left, despite being surrounded by a number of Buckeyes. The shot rolled around the rim and finally fell, giving the Badgers a one-point lead.
Before the Badgers’ possession, OSU decided it would not call a timeout if Wisconsin scored. Instead, the Buckeyes would try to attack the Badgers in transition.
“In the huddle we talked that if they scored with under 10 seconds left, we were just going to throw the ball in and go to the basket,” O’Brien said. “Sometimes you get a better shot in that situation than if you call a timeout. It went just the way we talked about.”
The Buckeyes put the ball in the hands of senior guard Brent Darby, who sprinted down the floor. Driving the right side, Darby threw up an off-balance shot with two seconds left. But Wisconsin freshman Alando Tucker swatted Darby’s attempt.
“We have talked about his feet,” said Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan. “He anticipates on position. Where would we be without his presence at 6-foot-5? I’ll tell you, we wouldn’t be 2-2 in the Big Ten.”
Tucker led the Badgers with 15 points, while Penney had eight points on just 3-of-10 shooting.
Continuing his solid play over the past two weeks, forward Shun Jenkins led the Buckeyes with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Darby had 10 points and five assists.
Saturday marked the return of sophomore guard Brandon Fuss-Cheatham to the lineup. Fuss-Cheatham missed the past week due to lingering pain from his early-season knee surgery. He played 14 minutes and scored two points.
“Our offense is much different when Brandon’s on the floor,” O’Brien said. “Just his prescence alone allows us to change things. Brent took full advantage when Brandon was on the floor.”
But even with Fuss-Cheatham on the floor, theBuckeyes struggled to get into an offensive rhythm.
“It’s really frustrating right now because we have to score, and we’re not doing that,” Jenkins said. “We should’ve played the first 35 minutes like we played the last five.”
The Buckeyes, who have lost four of their last five games, have struggled offensively in every loss.
“Defensively, we’re doing a good job,” O’Brien said. “We continue to struggle on offense. We’re guarding people OK. We gave up some easy, stupid baskets, but we’re having bigger trouble on offense.”
OSU had a five-point advantage at halftime, but that quickly disappeared in the second half. The Badgers opened up the final half with an 11-2 run.
Andreas Helmigk started the run with a three-pointer from the top of the key.
After Wisconsin’s Boo Wade and Jenkins matched buckets, the Badgers ran off the next six points.
During that run, Mike Wilkinson scored off a backdoor cut. That was followed by Devin Harris’ shot, which went in as Harris appeared to get shoved to the ground trying to rebound his own miss. Penney ended the run when he drove past two Buckeye defenders on the baseline, making it 40-34.
The Badgers continued to put on the pressure before the Buckeyes answered back late in the game.
With just more than three minutes remaining, Darby hit a free throw and then scored on a drive down the lane.
On the next trip down, Darby found Jenkins down low and the junior forward made his shot as he was fouled. Jenkins banked in the free throw, cutting the deficit to 50-47.
The two teams traded free throws, Penney tried to give the Badgers a bigger lead, but Radinovic blocked his attempt.
Darby then hit two free throws at the other end, setting up the wild finish.
“It’s a good win to get on the road,” Penney said. “Now we have to take care of business at home.”
