MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin can be awfully good when it is making shots. Ohio State found that out Sunday.
The 20th-ranked Badgers shot 53 percent from the field, their best performance of the season, to rout No. 13 Ohio State 71-49.
”The guys got good looks, and they went down,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. ”They didn’t change anything. I’d like to say we did, that we found something.”
It was a dramatic turnaround offensively for Wisconsin (18-8, 9-4 Big Ten) after Thursday, when the Badgers went scoreless over the final 5 minutes in regulation and then managed just four points in overtime while losing at Minnesota.
The 39 first-half points tied their best opening period in Big Ten play this season and were only 10 fewer than the Badgers scored for the entire game at Ohio State in a Jan. 29 loss.
Ohio State coach Thad Matta said it was just one of those games when the Badgers could do no wrong, perhaps best summed up in the second half when Wisconsin guard Traevon Jackson banked in an off-balance shot as the clock shot expired.
Even so, Matta said he was at a loss to explain how poorly Ohio State (18-7, 8-5) played on defense.
”We’ve seen the results if we’re not going to play defensively. We’re not a good basketball team,” Matta said. ”If we’re going to rely on trying to outscore people, that’s not going to happen.”
Continue Reading: No. 20 Wisconsin cruises past No. 13 Ohio St 71-49 (The Associated Press)
