Men's Basketball
Lack of Crunch-time Offense Does in Buckeyes Against Badgers
By John Porentas

A basketball game is 40 minutes long, and for 36 minutes and 34 seconds of the game Ohio State (17-10, 8-6 Big Ten) played well enough to win against No. 11/10 Wisconsin (23-4, 13-2 Big Ten). It wasn't quite good enough.

OSU led by two points at 49-47 with 8:33 left in the game, but over the next three minutes and 26 seconds the Badgers scored nine points, the Buckeyes none. The run staked Wisconsin to a 56-49 lead with 5:08 to play, and that turned out to be all the Badgers needed to claim the win over the fading Buckeyes.

"I think there are stretches in the game where we take a little break," said OSU senior forward Matt Terwilliger.

"That was apparent in the second half. They went up seven and we could never recover from them being up seven. We took a little break on defense and couldn't knock down shots. We couldn't recover from it," Terwilliger said.

The teams combined for just six more points over the last 5:08, four by the Buckeyes and two by the Badgers, allowing the Wisconsin to claim the win and also to remain in the thick of the Big Ten conference race. It also left the Ohio State in danger of losing their grip on fifth place in the Big Ten race and with it, a bye in the Big Ten tournament.

The game was reminiscent of last year's encounter between the Badgers and Buckeyes in Columbus. That one was a rockem', sockem' contest in which neither team scored 50 points and ended up a one point OSU victory. The game was pivotal in deciding the Big Ten regular-season championship and was also a matchup of No. 1 and No. 2 in the national polls. That game was a physical affair dominated by defense. This year's contest was very similar.

"I thought both teams were all over the place. There were a lot of bodies flying," said Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Rein.

"It looked like a game where both sides, it was pretty evenly matched.

"Hard fought, tough to get good looks, but that kind of basketball can help you later," Ryan said.

OSU's defense was different this year but nearly as effective. They played man to man last year, but played zone this year. That zone made things tough for the Badgers, holding them to 58 points and producing eight steals. OSU also rebounded the ball surprisingly well, well enough to outrebound the Badgers.

"I thought it was a physical game," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

"I thought our guys did a pretty job holding the position they needed.

"One of the big keys was going to be rebounding the basketball and I thought we hammered that home all week and guys did a very good job of rebounding the ball."

What they didn't do was take advantage of offensive opportunities when they had them. In a game where clean shots were tough to come by, the Buckeyes missed far too many easy shots, particularly in the second half. It was the opposite story for the veteran Badgers. When they got open shots, they scored more often than not.

"We got inside the defense a couple of times and didn't finish, we got in transition a couple of times and didn't finish," Matta said.

"It's just not falling," lamented Terwilliger.

"The one Jamar (Butler) shot rolls around and rims out. The guy from Wisconsin gets a layup that gets stuck on the back of the rim and the wind blows it in. We just can't catch a break with our shots that are rimming out," Terwilliger said.

The loss, and the way it came about, elicited a sense of frustration among the Buckeyes. There is no question that the effort was good and they played well defensively and on the boards, but just could not finish on the offensive end

"We played hard. We've got to keep finding ways to capitalize We can't get a steal then throw it back to them," said Matta.

The Badgers too had their moments of frustration on offense, but were able to score on the few easy opportunities they got. Their moments of efficiency offset their offensive lapses. The Buckeyes did not produce those efficient moments, particularly over that 3:26 in the second half when the game was still in doubt.

"We talked about it all week, we were going to have to make some plays. We were where we wanted to be. It just didn't go down," said Matta.

"They're one of the best defensive team in the country. They did a good job of challenging shots and keeping us in front. I thought we had some pretty good opportunities off drives and it just didn't go in for us," Matta said.

Game Notes:

* OSU senior point guard Jamar Butler was not in the starting lineup when the game began. Senior forward Matt Terwilliger declined to comment on that situation, saying only that "It was a team issue." OSU Head Coach Thad Matta, however, did not characterized the situation as one that involved team rules.

"It was not a team violation," said Matta.

"We ran that group (the starting five) together all week and they played well," Matta said.

Though he didn't start, Butler still logged 36 minutes. He finished the game as OSU's leading scorer with 14 points. He was also guilty of four turnovers. Butler was two-for-eight from three point range and five-of-13 from the field.

* OSU freshman forward Kosta Koufos had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and held his own against Wisconsin big man Brian Butch. Koufos helped limit Butch to nine points and four rebounds. Defensively, Koufos was credited with two blocks and helped make it tough down low for the Badgers. He also limited his turnovers to just one.

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