Buckeyes survive Wisconsin push, advance in Big Ten Tournament

On Mar 9, 2023

CHICAGO – The difference was obvious before the first ball of the Big Ten Tournament was tipped off at the United Center.

At one end of the court were the 13th-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes, losers of 14 of 15 games at one point this season. In the final seconds before what could have been their final game together, the enthusiasm was palpable. Justice Sueing and Brice Sensabaugh exchanged a unique handshake. Isaac Likekele ran onto the court to give a final jump and hip bump to one of his teammates. And when the ball was tipped, Ohio State’s nine reserves were, to a man, standing in anticipation.

Their Wisconsin counterparts didn’t appear so excited. Needing a win to keep their flickering NCAA Tournament hopes alive, the No. 12-seeded Badgers sat on their seats, gazes mostly fixed forward, as the starters meandered to their spots.

If either of the teams was feeling the pressure of an elimination game, it was clearly Wisconsin.

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By the time the Badgers figured out what they needed to do to win, it was too late. Ohio State built a 27-point lead, withstood a significant second-half scoring drought but held on to advance with a 65-57 win.

With the win, Ohio State will play No. 5 seed Iowa on Thursday at approximately 2:30 p.m. ET. The Buckeyes and Hawkeyes split their season series this year with each team winning at home.

The Badgers (17-14) made it nervy thanks to a second-half run ignited by Tyler Wahl, but the Buckeyes (14-18) had built enough of a lead to withstand a scoring drought of 6:34.

Ahead 55-33 with 11:01 to play after Sean McNeil finished a fast break started by Sensabaugh, Ohio State finally started to show some signs of duress as Wahl settled in. He answered the McNeil bucket by splitting two free throws, and it started a personal 8-0 run in the span of only 2:04 to pull Wisconsin with 55-41.

When Ohio State called timeout there with 8:31 left, it didn’t get its offense going but it did come up with a sequence of stops to keep Wisconsin at bay. Sueing broke the stalemate with a fadeaway, baseline jumper at the 6:34 mark to make it 57-41.

The Badgers kept coming from there, though, and when Wahl banked in a 3-pointer with 2:13 left it was the third straight Wisconsin make from deep and cut Ohio State’s lead to 57-52. Ohio State answered with McNeil, who drew a foul on Chucky Hepburn with 1:20 left, hit both side of the one-and-one free throws and made it a three-possession game again.

When Roddy Gayle was fouled with 11.2 seconds left and the lead at six points, Ohio State started to smile again. And his two free throws removed all doubt.

“We did panic a little bit,” McNeil said.

Wahl scored 17 of his team-high 19 points after halftime. McNeil led the Buckeyes with 17 points, Sueing had 16 and Bruce Thornton had 15.

“I just kept reminding them relax and have fun,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “This is a fun game. It’s not life and death. It’s a lot for young kids. I thought we had some guys play a little bit tighter maybe than what certainly they were doing earlier. So as much as possible, I was trying to just play with a smile on your face, relax, and we’ll live with the results.

The final 11 minutes stood in stark contrast to the opening 29 for the Buckeyes. Sueing’s 3-pointer at the 17:19 mark gave Ohio State a 5-2 lead, the first time the Buckeyes led the Badgers this year after Wisconsin won 65-60 at Value City Arena on Feb. 2. That was one of two games this season during which Ohio State never held a lead and came smack-dab in the nadir of the most significant losing streak in more than 20 years.

It was just the start on this night. The Buckeyes pushed the lead to 11-4 on a Thornton layup with 14:28 left in the half and saw it climb to double digits after Sean McNeil scored seven straight points for the Buckeyes, the final two after he backed down Chucky Hepburn, spun, faked and laid it in past the sophomore guard for an 18-8 lead.

Ohio State was just getting warmed up, but Wisconsin was already cooked. A Brice Sensabaugh banked-in jumper from the left block put Ohio State ahead by double digits again at 22-12 with 8:18 left in the half, and when Sensabaugh hit a jumper for the final points of the half it gave Ohio State an 18-point advantage and its largest lead of the half.

The Buckeyes removed nearly any doubt in the opening minutes of the second half. Wisconsin opened with the ball and fed 7-0 junior Steven Crowl in the paint, but 6-11 Ohio State freshman Felix Okpara forced him into yet another miss. Then, after a Roddy Gayle Jr. drive and miss, Okpara was there to clean up the miss and give Ohio State a 38-18 lead. Sueing added to it with a fadeaway jumper along the left baseline that had his momentum propel him onto his back and nearly into a somersault on the next possession, and the Buckeyes were up 40-18.