It was not pretty and at times it was downright ugly, but style points have never been the Badgers' forte.
Wisconsin held Ohio State (12-7 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) to 25 percent shooting en route to a 57-42 win at the Kohl Center Wednesday. The Badgers (12-4, 3-3) did not shoot much better themselves, connecting on only 17 of 45 shots.
\I don't know if it was two inept offensive teams or two exceptional defensive teams,"" Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien said after the game.
Both offenses struggled early, and it was nearly six minutes into the game when Andy Kowske scored the first field goal to give UW a 4-0 lead with 14:12 remaining. The Buckeyes remained scoreless until Brent Darby hit a trey at the 12:23 mark.
Kowske and Mike Kelley got into foul trouble early, and both sat on the bench during the final ten minutes of the first half. During that stretch, the Buckeyes went on a 6-0 run as UW continued to miss open shots and took their biggest lead of the game, 9-6 with 5:29 remaining.
""I remember saying to the guys, 'you're getting good shots,'"" UW coach Brad Soderberg said. ""We just couldn't put them in and then it just kind of snowballed.""
Both teams picked up the scoring in the final five minutes of the half, and a Mark Vershaw layup with two seconds left gave the Badgers a 22-18 lead at halftime.
Wisconsin never let OSU star center Ken Johnson get going and continued to smother him in the second half. Whenever Johnson put the ball on the floor, UW's guards collapsed on the post gave the 6'11"" shot blocker fits all night.
""When [Johnson] did put it on the floor, there was not much chance he was going to come up and get his hands on it,"" Soderberg said.
With Johnson ineffective in the paint and OSU missing perimeter shots, the Badgers slowly extended their lead in the second half. A Kirk Penney three-pointer with 5:02 left gave UW a 45-34 advantage. Ohio State never came closer than 12 points in the remaining minutes as desperation three-point shots continually fell short.
Roy Boone led the Badgers with 13 points, and Penney added 10, hitting three of six shots. Brian Brown led Ohio State with 14 points. Johnson came into the game averaging 15.8 points in six conference games. He was held to a season-low two points.
Though he played only 20 minutes due to foul trouble, Kelley recorded four steals and was very proud of his team's defensive effort.
""I thought tonight was about as solid as I've seen any team in my four years,"" he said.
Ohio State's shooting percentage was the lowest for a Wisconsin opponent since Brown shot 18.4 percent Dec. 7, 1996. The Buckeyes' loss was their first ever at the Kohl Center. Coming into the game, they were the only Big Ten team to have never lost at the Kohl Center.
""I think they're a pretty good team and very, very tough to play against,"" O'Brien said. ""But that's no news--they've always been tough to play against.\
