CHICAGO—After splitting the two games with Ohio State during the regular season, the rubber match in the Big Ten Tournament Championship did not go the UW men's basketball team's way. Ohio State got out to an early lead and never looked back, steamrolling UW en route to a 66-49 victory and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
After OSU (30-3) senior Ron Lewis scored on a layup to open the game, Wisconsin, which shot 37 percent from the floor, never led. While Greg Oden was held to no points in six minutes in the first half, he finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds and claimed Tournament MVP honors.
The Badgers (29-5) simply never got into an offensive flow. Senior Kammron Taylor led UW with 15 points, but he made only 2-for-10 shots from behind the arc. In fact, the Badger team shot 4-for-23 from 3-point territory as a team.
For the Badgers, the poor shot selection, as well as their inability to get to the line, was a result of them playing from behind. The Badgers only went on two runs of more than three points the entire game.
""If you're playing behind like that, it's very difficult to get to the free throw line, and that's a game that we usually like to play,"" UW head coach Bo Ryan said. ""But when you're playing from behind, you don't usually get that many opportunities.""
Alando Tucker, who scored 21 each of the last two games against Michigan State and Illinois, was held to just 10 points, and only three in the second half. The senior forward shot 4-of-13 in his final conference tournament game and did not make a jump shot.
""Early [on] we didn't get a rhythm. We didn't establish a rhythm,"" said Tucker, who had two of the Badgers' 12 turnovers. ""On the first ten possessions we had like six or seven turnovers, and it's hard to establish a rhythm. That's usually one of the things we're good at.""
The Badgers kept it a game for the first half, keeping the lead at six. And after OSU built up an 11-point lead early in the second half, Taylor began to spark the Badgers. He made a 3-pointer and followed it up with another score after an Oden put-back to cut the lead to four.
But with the Badgers down six and Taylor at the line, the senior missed one of two. OSU freshman guard Mike Conley Jr., who was the star of the game with 18 points and 8 assists, came down and hit a lay up sparking a 19-7 Buckeye run.
Conley, who hit the game winner in the second game between the two teams in Columbus, shot 7-for-14 from the field, and his penetration left Oden open on many occasions. After the game, Taylor was impressed.
""He's the key to the team. He runs the show,"" Taylor said. ""He did a great job of doing that tonight.""
After a Taylor 3-pointer cut the lead to 48-41 with 7:20 remaining, OSU senior Jamar Butler hit a long three with the shot clock winding down, which proved to be the dagger.
Junior forward Greg Stiemsma, who said Oden was the best big man he's seen this season, was thoroughly impressed with the big man's progression over the course of the season.
""I think he's gotten better every time we've played him, every time we've seen him. Either on the boards or defensive activity, he's one of best in the country for a reason,"" said Stiemsma, who finished with four rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes. ""He's active, he's long and he's got a big body that he knows how to use pretty well.""
On the other end, Oden was just as complimentary of the UW big men's defense.
""Both guys, [Jason] Chappell and Stiemsma, they're great defenders,"" Oden said. ""They know how to body you and they know how to hide it from the refs and that's the main part. They do a great job.""
But the key to the Buckeye win wasn't Oden's offense, it was their defense. The Badgers shot 37 percent from the field, including 9-of-27 in the first half. UW was also outscored by 10 in the paint, and its 12 turnovers resulted in 16 Buckeye points.
Ryan said the OSU defense plays comfortably, knowing they have Oden lurking in the paint ready to contend any Badger shot inside.
""There are certain things that they can do, knowing that Oden is back there taking care of the rest,"" Ryan said. ""But Oden, he still moves pretty well for a big [man], so it's not like he just waits in the paint for people to come.""
Lewis also helped the Buckeyes in his final conference tournament. The senior scored 17 points and pulled down six boards.
Tucker and Taylor made the Big Ten All-Tournament team, along with Conley Jr., Oden and Carl Landry.
The Badgers, who earned a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Bracket, will play Friday in Chicago again against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which is playing in its first NCAA Tournament.
For Tucker and the Badgers, it's now or never.
""From here on out, we know that it's all or nothing. Either you win or lose,"" Tucker said. ""We're going to go home and we're going to take this to heart and we're going to be ready to bounce back.""
