The end of a four-game winning streak was the beginning of another in the Kohl Center Saturday night as the Wisconsin men's basketball team (7-6 Big Ten, 16-9 overall) escaped with an exciting 55-50 win against Ohio State (7-5, 17-6) to keep its postseason hopes alive.
Although the Badgers had three double-digit scorers in each of their previous three wins, it was their defense that kept them in the game Saturday night, besting the Buckeyes by wide margins in steals, rebounds and turnovers while shooting a paltry 36.4 percent from the field.
That was a hard-fought battle, and eventually Wisconsin obviously made the plays down the stretch,"" Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said. ""We felt that coming into the game the keys were going to be taking care of the basketball and rebounding the ball. We didn't do either one of them very well and that was probably the difference.""
Senior forward Marcus Landry seemed to be the only Wisconsin player who was consistently able to make shots on the night. After a 2-for-2 start on shots from senior forward Joe Krabbenhoft and Ohio State freshman guard William Buford, Landry made two layups that would be the only two additional scores from the field nearly nine minutes into the game.
Both teams kept each other in check on the scoreboard, with four ties and 11 lead changes in the first half, but it was a bit of a different story on the court. The Buckeyes were extremely efficient, shooting 10-of-19, while Wisconsin could not buy a bucket, yet had 12 more opportunities thanks to 19 first-half rebounds - 10 on the offensive glass - and nine Ohio State turnovers.
""It felt good out-rebounding a team that's known for their size,"" Landry said. ""We were active on the glass today and it really paid off for us. It gave us second chances and second opportunities to score again, so it really worked out in our favor today.""
The half ended with a rebound and short jumper from Landry to put Wisconsin up 24-23 in the closing seconds.
The second half was just as tight, with four more tied scores and six more lead changes. However, key shots from players who were quiet offensively in the first half gave Wisconsin major bursts of momentum.
Sophomore forward Jon Leuer made all four of his second-half shots after only putting up one point in the first half. Wisconsin junior guard Jason Bohannon squelched Ohio State's biggest lead of the second half at 37-34 with his only three-point shot of the game to tie it up at 37.
Then, down 47-48 with just over two minutes to play and the shot clock winding down, Wisconsin freshman guard Jordan Taylor drove down the lane flanked by three Buckeyes, and passed it back to a wide-open Krabbenhoft, who connected from behind the arc to put the Badgers up for good.
""Shot clock was down, I had to put it up, and [I was] sure guys were in there for rebounding position so it wasn't a bad shot,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""Jordan did a good job of driving the lane and getting a couple guys to go with him because I'm sure they weren't too worried about me out there, and just put it up there and it went down.""
Krabbenhoft had nine points on the night, a distant second to Landry's 17, but his defensive efforts were pivotal in the victory. He had eight of the team's 32 rebounds and six steals, the most of any player on the court.
""The whole atmosphere around here today was a lot of fun, and it's something I'm going to remember for a long time,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""It was a very enjoyable day and to cap it off with a game like that, to win in a close, tough game against a great team - an NCAA tournament team - was huge. It's a big win for us, but we're not going to celebrate like we have done anything yet '¦ but we've got a lot of work left to do, and I think everybody knows that.""
