Sophomore guard Bruce Thornton (2) floats the ball up during the second half of Ohio State’s 87-75 loss to No. 14 Illinois at the Schottenstein Center Jan. 30. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
The Buckeyes are nearing program records but for all the wrong reasons.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team hasn’t won an away game since New Year’s Day of 2023.
This time, it failed to overcome the hostility in Madison, Wisconsin, marking its 17th consecutive road loss —tying a school record.
The Buckeyes (14-11, 4-10 Big Ten) were held to a season-low 54 points as the No. 20 (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) Badgers snapped their four-game losing streak with a 62-54 Tuesday night win at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead just under a minute into the game, on the shoulders of a made 3-pointer by Wisconsin junior forward Steven Crowl just 22 seconds after tipoff. Crowl had a quick 5 points in the first minute and a half.
The Buckeyes’ offense was able to match up to Wisconsin early, finding early success in the paint after sophomore guard Evan Mahaffey had Ohio State’s first 8 points, six of which came from the interior.
After sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. connected on a 3-pointer with 11:40 to go in the first half, the game was tied at 11 as the Badgers were in the midst of a six-minute scoring drought. They struggled to make a field goal until a Crowl 3-pointer, which became his eighth point of the game.
Ohio State couldn’t contain the Badgers any longer.
After a successful 3-pointer by Wisconsin junior guard Max Klesmit with 4:31 remaining in the first half, the Badgers closed on a 14-2 run, taking a commanding 34-21 lead into the break.
At the half, the Badgers were led by Crowl’s 12 points. For the Buckeyes, Mahaffey and Gayle had 8 points apiece, a team-high.
The first 20 minutes wreaked a monstrous second half, but Ohio State had other plans.
Out of the break, the Buckeyes’ offense was scorching hot. Ignited by a pull-up jumper in the paint by sophomore guard Bruce Thorton with 4:02 into the second half, Ohio State went on to score on its next 10 possessions, which featured six different Buckeye scorers.
Unfortunately for Ohio State, during the offensive splurge, it was unable to contain Wisconsin’s offensive attack. During the Buckeyes’ run, the Badgers nearly matched every Ohio State basket and made five of its last seven field goals during that span.
With 11:21 to go in the game and down by 10, the Buckeyes made a run.
Thorton and sophomore guard Bowen Hardman each made a 3-pointer, followed by a second-chance layup from freshman forward Devin Royal, which gave the Buckeyes an 8-0 run, cutting the Badgers’ lead to 50-45 with nine minutes remaining.
“I think for us to get it back to a game that was more than manageable, 5 points and then 6 points was really a credit to our guys,” Buckeye head coach Chris Holtmann said.
Ohio State was in it. Thornton made a jumper in the paint with 8:34 to go and the Buckeyes were only down by six.
Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, they wouldn’t score for the next 6:58 and allowed the Badgers to seal the deal, extending Ohio State’s road losing streak to 17.
“I didn’t think they [the Buckeyes] would go away quietly,” Badgers head coach Greg Gard said. “They’re too talented of a team, coming off Saturday’s win against Maryland, they were feeling better about themselves that we had to put 40 minutes specifically defensively together and we were able to do enough there at the end to get the lead back out.”
Ohio State will return home and face off against the No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday. CBS will broadcast. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
