Wisconsin uses toughness to leave Ohio State muttering to itself

Wisconsin wins on the road

The Wisconsin Badgers’ struggles early in this college basketball season were initially rooted in their sputtering offense, but as the season continued, Wisconsin’s defense lost focus at times. North Carolina State blitzed UW at the start of the second half in the Badgers’ loss in Raleigh. When Wisconsin visited Rutgers in early December, the Badgers were done in by feeble rebounding. Rutgers destroyed Wisconsin in the realm of second-chance points, thwarting UW on a night when the Badgers shot almost 50 percent from the floor.

We said at Badgers Wire that Wisconsin was going to need to show it could win a pure street fight, getting by on blood, guts, and raw effort on a night when good offense didn’t emerge with much of any consistency. Wisconsin can’t play every game that way — it can’t win every game playing poorly on offense — but it was going to need to tough out some close Big Ten games, especially on the road, by defending and rebounding. You know, like Dick Bennett’s son Tony at Virginia:

Boom.

The Badgers won exactly the kind of game they needed to win on Friday night in Columbus. Wisconsin stood in the arena, absorbed a bad shooting night, and prevailed anyway… because it was tougher than Ohio State.

Wisconsin was just 21 of 56 (38 percent) from the field, only 6 of 23 (26 percent) from 3-point range. They earned a modest 16 free throws — not terrible, but not especially good. They didn’t outscore Ohio State from the 3-point arc or the foul line.

How did they win? Possessions. Wisconsin was stronger with the ball — 10 turnovers committed, compared to 14 for Ohio State — and stronger on the glass, with 12 offensive rebounds to eight for the Buckeyes, part of a 34-32 rebounding edge. Wisconsin attempted nine more field goals than Ohio State, 56-47, and from that plus-nine margin in attempts, the Badgers earned a plus-two differential in made field goals.

Final score: 61-57… or two made field goals.

Toughness, defense, rebounding. Everything Wisconsin needed to do, everything the Badgers needed to become, was realized on Friday night in Ohio. Now, as the calendar turns to 2020, the Badgers seem to have turned the page in several ways. Their season feels very different for all the right reasons as a result.