Buckeyes Fall 61-57 In Ugly Affair With Badgers

COLUMBUS — Despite shooting .375 from the field for the game — and even worse than that in the second half — Wisconsin (9-5, 2-1) topped the No. 5 Buckeyes (11-3, 1-2) 61-57, giving Ohio State a losing record in Big Ten play this season.

Kaleb Wesson led all scorers with 22 points, which he managed on just 7-of-10 shooting. He also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. The rest of the Buckeyes, however, shot just 12-of-37 from the field.

Duane Washington scored 18 points of 6-of-19 shooting.

Ohio State was without starting forward Kyle Young due to appendicitis and it was clear they were missing his energy throughout.

The Buckeyes got four points total from points guards CJ Walker and DJ Carton.

Wisconsin outscored Ohio State 16-6 in points off of turnovers.

There were more than six minutes played in this game before anybody other than Kaleb Wesson scored a point. The Buckeyes led it 7-0 — all thanks to Wesson — until a layup by former Buckeye Micah Potter made it 7-2 with 13:52 to play.

Following layups by Luther Muhammad and Wisconsin’s Aleem Ford, Potter dropped in a jumper to make it 9-6. The Badgers tied it at 9-9 with 10:37 to play, but the Buckeyes went on a 6-0 run with a free throw by Kaleb Wesson and a layup and then three-pointer from Duane Washington.

The Badgers immediately answered with three-pointers from Nate Reuvers and Brevin Pritzl, tying it at 15-15 with 7:45 remaining in the half.

With Ohio State leading 19-15 with 4:53 to play, Kaleb Wesson picked up his second foul and went to the bench. The Buckeyes were able to maintain that 4-point lead for most of the way, at least until Wisconsin went on an 8-0 run over the final 1:14 of the half, featuring three-pointers from Trevor Anderson and Aleem Ford.

Wisconsin’s lead was 29-25 at the half, but the Buckeyes came out firing in the second half. A three-pointer from Washington cut the lead to one point, but a jumper from Kobe King pushed it back up to three points at 31-28.

Ohio State then went on a 10-0 run with a three-pointer from Andre Wesson, a layup by CJ Walker, a free throw by Kaleb Wesson, a layup by Andre Wesson, and then a layup by Kaleb Wesson. Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard called a timeout with OSU leading 38-31 with 16:58 remaining in the game.

The Badgers then began their comeback. However, after baskets from Tyler Wahl and D’mitrik Trice, Kaleb Wesson hit a three, making it 41-35 with 11:31 remaining. That three was answered by a layup from Trice.

A pair of free throws and a layup from Kaleb Wesson were sandwiched by a two-point and three-point jumper from Kobe King. A jumper from Brevin Pritzl made it 45-44 with 8:05 to play.

Wisconsin then tied it on a Buckeye turnover-turned King layup to make it 47-47. Kaleb Wesson then immediately answered that with a pair of free throws to get the lead right back with 6:33 remaining. The Badgers’ next time downcourt, King drove it down the lane, but Wesson was there to block the shot.

Washington made it a 4-point lead with a curling layup with 4:30 to play. Following a layup by Wahl, the Buckeyes turned the ball over on their next two possessions, allowing the Badgers to grab a 52-51 win lead with 1:54 to play.

A three-pointer from Brevin Pritzl made it 55-51, but that was countered immediately with a three from Washington, who was 4-of-16 shooting prior to that basket.

With under a minute to play, Trice missed a jumper, but the Badgers grabbed the rebound and Trice was fouled. He made both of his free throws. Kaleb Wesson missed a three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining to effectively end the game. Nate Reuvers drained a pair of free throws to make it 59-54 with 14 seconds to play.

Box Score